


the sea between us (and the storms we bring)

by bukkunkun



Series: secondary typing [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Powers, And Lots of It, Crossover, Environmentalism, Established Relationship, Headcanon, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Phone Sex, Politics, Sequel, Training, Worldbuilding, technically?? - Freeform, y'all asked for this and i have unleashed the floodgates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2021-04-20
Packaged: 2021-04-22 16:54:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 80
Words: 337,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22193149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bukkunkun/pseuds/bukkunkun
Summary: The signs were there that Raihan was going to propose. After everything they'd been through, Leon was ready for him.Where its king leads, the rest of Galar is sure to follow.Set five years after the monstrosity that issecondary typing.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Shirona | Cynthia & Kibana | Raihan
Series: secondary typing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619305
Comments: 1181
Kudos: 846





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> > just found out that in order to match/top the excessive shit i did for the first dragon raihan fic i have to legitimately write out whole ass pokemon battles and oh my god why do i keep doing this to myself  
  
me, kicking myself down: [pic.twitter.com/RyvdnT16IM](https://t.co/RyvdnT16IM)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc @ dracovish lovemail 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 5, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1213839045127573506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> y'all ever just??? (whips) flex?
> 
> anyway hi. it's been a while since i wrote a multichapter fic properly so let's see how well this goes. i still possess no desire to explain myself regarding anything and i will likely address important things that happened between secondary typing and this one in the story as it goes. WHO KNOWS. 
> 
> the timeline is kinda shaky but bear with me. i think you can make sense of it because my beta [reyna](https://twitter.com/AngInangReyna) told me it makes sense and i trust her

“_Sinnoh?_” 

Sonia’s eyes were wide, her grip white-knuckled on her Yamper mug while Hop was practically _ vibrating _in his seat, his grin wide on his face as he had his own Wooloo mug he was almost going to break with how skittish he was being. 

“Sinnoh!” Hop cheered, “He’s thinking about it! He’s thinking about it!”

“Shh!” Leon hissed, feeling his cheeks burn, but he couldn’t stop smiling as Hop and Sonia danced around their lab’s kitchen, hand in hand as they cheered with delight. Leon laughed into his hands as they tripped over each other, bursting into giggles as they sat themselves back down on each other’s seats. “So, what do you guys think?”

“What do we _ think?_” Sonia squealed, “He’s going to _ propose, obviously!_”

“Oh, Lee! You’re gonna get married!” Hop cheered, “Oh, Mum’s gonna be so happy!”

“D-don’t you think that’s jumping the gun a little bit?” Leon stammered, but oh, his grin was dumb. Big, wide and absolutely _ gobsmacked _dumb at the thought Sonia and Hop were presenting. “I-I mean, all I saw was airfare rates for Sinnoh, that’s it—”

“Oh, you’re not fooling anyone, Lee.” Sonia grinned, lifting Hop’s mug to her mouth, but she stopped halfway, shaking her head as she set it down to pull her mug out from under Hop’s hand. “That’s _ obviously _a honeymoon spot. It’s nice and cool there, it’s totally an excuse for you to cuddle, especially with his dragon weakness to ice!”

Leon giggled nervously as he fiddled with the end of his hair—braided and secured with an orange ribbon, care of his new secretary—and Hop sobered up to squeeze his brother’s wrist on the table. Leon’s eyes met Hop’s, and he smiled at him sweetly. 

“Do you want him to?” He asked, and Leon sighed, as Sonia sobered up. 

“I do.” Leon said gingerly, and Sonia burst into a fit of delighted giggles again.

“He said ‘I do’! He’s already ready!” 

Leon blew his old rival a raspberry as Hop laughed into his hand, and she blew him a raspberry back, before calming down, resting her chin on her hand, blowing her now-short hair out of her face with a little grin. 

“We’ve… we’ve loved each other for so long. I think it’s only right we get… married.” He said with a breathless sense of wonder in his voice, and Hop and Sonia sighed happily. “I—I’m excited.”

“You should totally propose at the same time! It’d be adorable!” Sonia nodded eagerly, “He’d get down on one knee, and then you’d break out your own box…”

“That honestly sounds like something you and Raihan would do.” Hop chuckled as he took a sip of tea, sighing as Leon laughed sheepishly into the rim of his own—unfortunately plain—mug. “It’s almost your first anniversary, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah.” Leon nodded, tucking his hair behind his ear, laughing sheepishly. “Well, the _ official _one, at least.” 

Hop shrugged, tilting his head in agreement. “Still, you guys stuck to it. I’d say that’s the _ only _date that should matter.” 

Leon smiled at the table sheepishly, and he missed the fond smile on Hop’s face. 

“Oh, absolutely.” Sonia sighed happily. “I remember that day as if it was just yesterday.” She rested her chin in her hand, smiling dreamily. “Closing ceremony, little Victor swimming in your old cloak and your hat…”

“Yeah, and then they got picked up by Milo and he got Nessa and Kabu to join in!” Hop nodded, “And then Raihan totally dodged Gloria when they wanted on his shoulders—”

“Because he went up to the podium and kissed you right in front of everyone!” Sonia cheered. “How amazing is that!”

“I found the sight of Victor crushing Bede when they fell over funnier.” Hop muttered, and Sonia snorted, nodding as she burst into laughter at the memory. “But yeah, I think it’s about time, too. Heaven knows that Mum’s been bothering me about asking you when you two will tie the knot.” 

Leon blew him a raspberry, and Hop elbowed him in the side, grinning. 

“C’mon, c’mon. Let’s go over the pieces of evidence that he’s planning on proposing.” Sonia said, counting off her points on her fingers. “One, the Sinnoh airfare rates webpage you saw on his laptop. Honeymoon.”

“Two, the Pokémon Nursery incident.” Hop said, as Sonia lifted another one of her painted nails. “Said you look fantastic surrounded by baby Pokémon, looked absolutely wistful looking at a Charmander in his arms. Wants to start a family.”

“Three!” Sonia squealed. “The ring size! Tying a string around your finger to see what your ring size is the least sneaky thing I’ve ever heard!”

Leon laughed at that, shaking his head fondly as he looked down at his bare finger. He thought back to a few months ago during his boyfriend’s rut when he bit him there, leaving a ring of tooth marks around his ring finger, and he sighed happily. 

“He’s going to propose.” He said breathlessly, and Sonia and Hop sobered up, smiling at each other fondly, as Leon rubbed his finger wistfully. 

“What’ve you got planned for the anniversary?” Hop asked, and Leon blinked at him. “That’s the most likely time, I think. When he’d propose, I mean.”

“Oh.” Leon’s eyes widened as his cheeks burned. “I, um… we were going to PokéLand to have fun. And then have a Pokémon battle at Battle Tower.”

“Leave it to you two to make Pokémon battles romantic!” Sonia huffed, and Hop laughed, elbowing her. 

“May I remind you that Vic and I got together after they kicked my arse over and over again?”

“Maybe you’re just a masochist.” Sonia muttered, and Leon kicked at her shin. “Shut up, Lee! You gotta accept that your little brother’s _ dating _now!”

“I’m _ trying _ to ignore it!” Leon wasn’t screeching, oh he absolutely _ wasn’t, _but Hop raised an eyebrow at him. He shrunk back, and Hop shook his head exasperatedly. 

“You’re getting _ married._” Hop said, and Leon shook his head.

“W-we—we won’t know that, yet!” He stammered, and now even _ Sonia _was judging him. Leon stammered a little more, feeling his cheeks still hot as ever, and he backpedalled. “I-I mean, erm, uh…”

He was saved—_thank Arceus—_from their scrutiny when his phone rang. He let out an undignified _ shriek _as he shot up from his seat, pulling his phone out of his pocket to see it was a phone call from his new assistant. 

“I have to go!” He said, and Sonia and Hop wore identical disappointment on their faces as Leon raced out of the lab, unmindful of their disapproval. He brought Charizard out of its ball with a laugh, and he stretched out his wings with a powerful roar as he landed on the ground, looking at Leon expectantly. “We need to get back to Wyndon.”

Charizard nodded, letting Leon jump onto his back as he answered the call.

“Yes, Ricki? I’m here.”

“_Sir, the representative from Aether Foundation is here._” She said, and Leon could hear the sound of her Growlithe playing with what sounded like a Vulpix in the background. “_Where are you?_”

“Right, sorry!” Leon apologised, as Charizard shot over Hammerlocke, and he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face at the sight of Raihan on the streets of the castle town in civilian gear, grinning as he greeted both Gym Challengers and fans alike. 

“_Sir?_” Ricki repeated, and Leon jerked in alarm. 

“Y-yes! I am—uh, I just—passed Hammerlocke. I’ll be there in five minutes.” Leon stammered. “Sorry, the meeting with Sonia got derailed slightly.” 

“_You mentioned the Sinnoh thing, didn’t you?_” He could hear her grin in her voice, and he laughed nervously as he nodded, even if she couldn’t see him. “_Oh, Mr. Raihan is so wonderful to you. I have the utmost faith he’ll propose soon, sir._” 

“Me too.” Leon sighed, and Ricki giggled. He heard a ‘_Growlithe, no!_’ from an unfamiliar voice on the other line, and he hissed when he heard his assistant swear. “Hold tight, Ricki. I’m making my descent on HQ.”

“_Th-thank you, sir._” She stammered, and Leon hung up, landing Charizard on the helipad on the roof of the building. He huffed to himself, shaking his head as he jumped off, straightening out his jacket as Charizard put himself back into his ball. The Pokéball dropped into Leon’s hand smoothly as he strode towards the stairway access door, heading down the staircase to head into another access door to the corridor of his office’s floor. He cleared his throat, patting his cheeks as he steadied himself, before stepping into the receiving area.

“Mr. Leon!” 

“Sir!”

Leon stopped at the sound of the two women’s voices, and he looked down at the middle of the room. He couldn’t help but burst out laughing when he saw Ricki’s unruly little Growlithe—little Charkie, the runt of her litter, on top of the most curious-looking Vulpix he’d ever seen.

It was white as snow, pristine and lovely like the dress her trainer was wearing. Vulpix’s trainer was a young woman in a white jumpsuit and clean white high heels. Her blonde hair was gathered in a high ponytail secured with a baby blue ribbon, and she was currently on the floor, crushed (if halfheartedly) underneath the two rowdy Pokémon, looking about ready to collapse into a panicked fit. 

“Oh, Arceus! Are you alright?” Leon jumped, quickly picking up little Charkie with one hand and the Vulpix in the other. He bundled Charkie back into her owner’s arms, nodding once at his assistant’s breathless ‘thanks, sir!’ as he held his hand out for the young woman to take.

She gave him an awkward little smile, taking his hand to let him help her get up, and she lit up when Leon handed her Pokémon back to her. 

“Oh, thank you.” She said, nodding gratefully as she straightened up, smoothing down her jumpsuit. “Snowball likes playing with other Pokémon, but it seems Charkie just got a little too rowdy.” 

“She does that.” Leon shrugged, and decided not to mention the fact that the mischievous little thing stole his _ underwear, _ sometimes. The blonde giggled, nodding, and he gave her a smile. “I’m Leon. Chairman of Macro Cosmos. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Lillie.” She replied, and they shook hands. “It’s nice to finally meet you! My mother has mentioned meeting you before.” Leon cocked his head at her, and Lillie giggled softly. “My mother is Lusamine, the CEO of Aether Foundation.”

“Oh!” Leon lit up. “Yes, I’ve met her before.” 

He thought back to that fateful trip to Alola, his first night with Raihan and his rut, and he couldn’t help but smile as he thought back to the budding idea in his and his friends’ heads at Raihan’s impending proposal. 

“Yes.” Lillie nodded, blissfully unaware of Leon’s thoughts as she picked up her—also white—briefcase with the Aether Foundation logo on it. “Roughly 5 years ago. Unfortunately, back then, Macro Cosmos and Aether Foundation failed to reach a resolution, but maybe this time, things will turn out differently.”

Lillie gave him a meaningful look, and Leon looked at her in surprise. She flushed, turning her gaze away from him as Ricki led them from the waiting room to Leon’s office. “We’ve heard about what happened a year ago.” She said, “My mother and Professor Kukui had had their suspicions, but they had never been confirmed until last year.”

Leon looked down at the ground, his shoulders slumping, and Lillie jumped, shaking her head. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean any harm by that!” She said, and he gave her a withering smile. “I mean—I…” Lillie sighed. “Mother refused a collaboration with Chairman Rose five years ago because of her suspicions about him and his intentions.” Leon’s eyes widened at her, and she nodded. “Yes. And now, we would like to work with Macro Cosmos again, this time, led by its new Chairman, Leon.”

“Oh…” Leon breathed. “That’s. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Lillie smiled. “We would have been ready with an offer last year when the company was handed to you, but Galar had been on Legendary Lockdown.”

“Ah, yeah.” Leon nodded. “It’s happened to Alola too, right?”

“Yes, a little over 10 years ago. I was a little girl back then.” Lillie nodded. “When Ultra Wormholes started opening in our skies, the legendary Pokémon Cosmog came to help us… and then in the year after that, we had to shut our borders following particle radiation—um, if that was what it was called, I don’t quite remember—until we flushed it out.”

“Same thing here.” Leon shook his head exasperatedly. “Except with Galar particles. Guess we have a lot in common.” He gave Lillie a grin, and she beamed, nodding enthusiastically. Ricki led Lillie to her seat across Leon’s as the man settled down at his desk, and the young woman had Charkie warm up a teapot before pouring them both warm Darjeeling in matching porcelain teacups. “Thank you, Ricki.”

She gave him a respectful nod, and walked out the room. Lillie took a demure sip from her teacup as her Vulpix jumped off her lap, taking a tentative look around Leon’s office, its eyes wide in wonder. 

“By the way, I’d been meaning to ask,” Leon said, and Lillie hummed, cocking her head. “That Vulpix… it’s certainly different from the ones I’ve seen.”

“Oh, yes!” She nodded. “Snowball is an Alolan Vulpix. She’s an Ice-Type Pokémon.”

“Oh!” Leon watched as Snowball jumped up on the sofa in his office, and curled into a ball to sleep. “I’m surprised it was allowed through Galarian Customs.”

“Well,” Lillie looked ashamed. “It _ is _registered as simply a Vulpix. Perhaps there was an oversight during customs check—um, Vulpixes are popular partners for a lot of people, after all.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Leon chuckled, and Lillie turned pink. 

“Y-yes. So it’s likely that Snowball was overlooked during customs. My brother’s Silvally had to be quarantined, unfortunately.”

“Ah, that’s a shame.” Leon frowned. “I’m sorry Galar has such strict environmental and wildlife laws. Your brother’s Silvally—” He’d never _ heard _ of a Silvally before, what the _ hell _was that? “Should be enjoying Galar along with everyone else.”

“Yes, well, that’s what we both aim to achieve in the end, right?” Lillie smiled, and Leon smiled back at her, nodding knowingly. She pulled up her briefcase from the ground, and opened it up to show Leon the papers she had with her. “Shall we start?”

Leon gave her a withering grin, but lifted his teacup. “After you, Lillie.”

* * *

“So the likely time Aether Paradise will start construction in Motostoke is—” Leon stopped talking when he realised the body beside him had grown limp. He smiled fondly, looking down to see Raihan had fallen asleep with his face buried in a life-sized Trapinch plush. Leon chuckled softly, leaning down to kiss Raihan’s temple, before turning off the bedside lamp. Their bedroom was plunged into darkness, with only moonlight and the light of Wyndon streaming in through a little crack in their curtains, bathing their room with a dim beam of gentle orange light.

He slowly shuffled downward to settle into bed beside him. “Jeez.” He said softly, gently maneuvering the Trapinch plush lower so he could cuddle against Raihan comfortably too, sandwiching it between their bodies as he sighed in contentment. 

Gently, he stroked Raihan’s cheek with the back of his fingers, a soft look in his eyes as he slowly laced their fingers together under the soft body of the Trapinch plush. 

“I love you so much.” He murmured, brushing away a stray dreadlock from Raihan’s temple. “I want to spend my whole life with you. I really do. I already _ am._”

He leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together, and he shut his eyes with a sigh. 

Everything was going so perfectly. After Rose went down, everything was a steady shot to the top, that every single day felt like heaven, despite the workload that came with being the Chairman of Macro Cosmos. Next week, the little Champion would face their first challenger, and if Galar was to welcome a new Champion or hail its current one, Leon would be there to witness it. 

And then, the day after—he’d promise the rest of his days to the love of his life, and the first day of the rest of their lives would start. 

Raihan stirred at his hand’s movement, and a sleepy smile crossed his face as he rolled over, reaching up to grab Leon’s hand, pressing his palm to his lips in a sleepy kiss. 

“Shit, did I fall asleep?” He mumbled against Leon’s hand, smiling as he turned to look at Leon, who chuckled softly, nodding. “Damn. I’m sorry.” Raihan leaned forward to peck his lips lightly, and yawned, stretching out languidly. 

“It’s fine.” Leon replied, rolling over and using his arm as a pillow as Raihan sat up with another yawn. “I guess you were tired after the match today?”

“Oh, yeah.” Raihan winced, stretching out before he settled down to lie next to Leon again, this time the Trapinch plush moved aside to pillow between Raihan’s head and their headboard. “A good number made it to Hammerlocke Stadium this time. I think it was 5.” 

“Ooh, not quite record-beating, but that’s quite a lot.” Leon nodded, and laughed softly. “Oh, five Gigantamaxes.”

“Five sandstorms.” Raihan groaned, sinking into their sheets with an exasperated sigh. “And someone made it _ rain._”

“Oh no.” Leon drawled, dissolving into a little laugh as Raihan huffed.

“And then they made it _ hail!_”

“Oh, no!” Leon was truly _ laughing _now, and Raihan grumbled, tackling his boyfriend into the sheets. They ended up rolling around, their laughter echoing through their room as Raihan determinedly tried to tickle Leon into submission while Leon tried to press his cold hand into his boyfriend’s neck, a trick he’d learned was doubly effective to Raihan, Mr. Poor Temperature Retention, and Raihan, half Dragon-type. “Rai! Rai! Cut it out! I give! Uncle!”

“Does the Champion concede?” Raihan grinned down at Leon, one hand wrapped around Leon’s wrist while the other one shakily held himself up as he straddled Leon. The Trapinch was on the floor now, but neither man particularly minded as they looked into each other’s eyes, panting heavily as their laughter melted into determined silence. Twin grins and eyes filled with determination met halfway, and Raihan lifted an eyebrow at Leon. “Well?” 

“Never.” Leon hissed, his free hand shooting up to press against Raihan’s neck, resting on top of a bite mark he’d left there that was still healing, and he felt the full-body _ shudder _that ripped through Raihan as he dropped down on top of Leon. “It’s super effective!” Leon crowed, before bursting into delighted laughter when Raihan buried his face into the crook of his neck, blowing a raspberry into his jugular. 

Leon squirmed helplessly against Raihan’s weight as his petulant huffing dragon dug his fangs into the angle where his neck and torso met in a warning nip, and Leon only laughed as he batted at his unrelenting shoulders. “You’re so cruel, Lee.” Raihan sniffed as he pulled away from Leon’s neck, his fangs catching on his lower lip, and Leon swallowed nervously, a goofy grin crossing his lips at the sight of Raihan’s ice-blue eyes looking down at him with that piercing gaze. 

“Don’t call me cruel when you fell asleep in the middle of me telling you about my day.” Leon blew him a raspberry, and Raihan’s steely look at him melted into a warm one as he laughed sheepishly, shaking his head. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He said, pressing a kiss to Leon’s lips gently, and Leon hummed, cupping his hand—warm now this time, promise, he’d warmed it up under his body when Raihan was pouting into his shoulder—over Raihan’s cheek to pull him closer, deepening their kiss. He could feel Raihan’s smile against his lips as he shifted slightly, and Leon just knew that the mood between them had shifted somewhat. 

They pulled apart for air, and Raihan’s eyes were half-lidded as he looked down at Leon. 

“So, Aether Foundation, huh?” He murmured, “Alola.” 

“Yeah.” Leon mumbled, as Raihan moved down the column of his throat, brushing his lips in little butterfly kisses down the length of the tendon. Leon shivered, and he could feel Raihan smile into his skin. “I met… the CEO’s daughter. We’re definitely going to get started on that energy harvesting project next year.” 

“That’s great.” Raihan said, “So you’ll be busy next year.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll—_ngh_—have time for you, I promise.”

Raihan didn’t say anything in response, licking up Leon’s throat again to press a kiss into the bruising bite mark he’d left there during his last rut. Leon winced, but he felt heat begin to curl under his skin, shivering pleasantly as Raihan laved attention on his claiming mark. 

“Alola.” Raihan said again instead, and Leon laughed softly as he pressed a kiss to the pair of moles on his neck. “We should go there again sometime soon.”

“Yeah.” Leon murmured, pulling away from Raihan to pull his chin up, kissing him deeply. The other man hummed pleasantly as they kissed slowly, unhurried and lazy as Raihan slowly ran his hand down the side of Leon’s body. 

“I can’t have sex tonight.” He murmured, laughing against Leon’s lips, and Leon chuckled. “I’m so tired, I don’t think even my dick can get up.” 

“Oh, no.” Leon drawled, rolling his eyes fondly as he pulled Raihan down to settle into bed, cuddled up together warmly. He pressed a kiss to Raihan’s temple, and the man smiled dopily. “Whatever will I do without your massive cock?”

“Right?” Raihan mumbled, already sleepy again, and Leon’s expression softened at him struggling to stay awake as Leon pulled their sheets over them warmly. “Mm… it’s the only thing you love about me.”

“I _ definitely _love your cock, my dear.” Leon hummed, earning him a snort from Raihan as the other man snuggled against his chest, keeping himself from laughing when Raihan buried his face between his pectorals. “And your mouth… your massive hands.”

“Mm. You got a dragon in your bed, after all.” Raihan said, his words already slurring, and Leon hushed him, gently stroking his back to lull him into sleep. 

“Yeah,” Leon murmured, “I love that you’re the one I can count on. I love that you can protect me.” He laced their fingers together as Raihan hugged him like a massive pillow. “I love that you always listen to me, and how you’re so kind, and good with kids and baby Pokémon…”

“Yeah, I get it.” Raihan grumbled, kissing whatever part of Leon he could reach without moving—his pectorals, oh fucking _ really, _ Leon thought, he loved this man. “I love you too, Lee.”

“I love you.” Leon whispered, and Raihan finally fell asleep against his chest, lulled by the warmth around them and the sound of Leon’s heartbeat. The smaller man smiled fondly, running his fingers through Raihan’s dreads soothingly as he settled down, too, watching his boyfriend sleep. 

He peered at their intertwined fingers, and saw that the beam of orange light streaked over them, casting a golden band over Leon’s left ring finger. His expression softened at that, and he felt his heart swelling in his chest. 

He shut his eyes, and settled down to sleep. 

He couldn’t wait for Raihan’s proposal. His own proposal in response.

On the roof of Hammerlocke Castle, in the light of the moon, high from the joy of flying in the cool night sky with their partner Pokémon. 

It would be just like Leon’s first night of freedom—

And it would be _ perfect. _


	2. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The days count down to Raihan's proposal. Leon's looking forward to it very, very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > fuck y'all's tsunderes we're leaving feelings dishonesty in 2019 it's all about the full on warm loving affection in 2020
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 11, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1215985165190565889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> maybe i love sappy idiot bastards in love. i love lovers who are best friends. they're fantastic.
> 
> also hello. finally, i have conquered the hill of writing bottom raihan. in my hc they do switch sometimes, though leon still prefers to bottom and raihan prefers to top. still nice to switch around every now and then. 
> 
> i really dont know what to say honestly lmao!! enjoy the new chapter.

“So, how’s the proposal thing going?”

Leon spluttered into his water bottle as the little Champion cocked their head, rubbing a towel over their hair to dry it out from the rain their challenger brought with them. It had been a little over an hour after that match—exciting as always, with the champion that ended Leon’s competitive career coming out on top—and it was soon time for a special exhibition match between Leon and the Gym Challenge finalist. 

“Wh-wh-what? _ Excuse me?_” Leon stammered as they raised an eyebrow at him. He dropped his bottle onto the bench of the waiting room to pick up his towel, rubbing his face in embarrassment as he tried to calm himself down. “Where’d—where’d you hear that?”

“Hop.” The little Champion replied. “And some people online have been guessing—correctly, judging by your reaction.”

Leon’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, the ring shopping.”

“Yeah, someone snapped a pic of you at a jewelry shop the other day with Sonia.” They chuckled, taking a swig of water from their own bottle with a sigh. “Don’t worry, I didn’t see anyone attempting to link the two of you, Raihan’s claimed you plenty enough.”

“That’s—that’s not what I’m worried about.” Leon stammered, and they laughed fondly. 

“I know. You’re worried Raihan will find out, right?” They asked, and Leon nodded gingerly as they settled down next to each other on the bench. They patted his knee comfortingly with a sage nod. “Bit unfair, don’t you think? Since you’ve got it all figured out that he’s going to propose soon, too.”

Leon mumbled something under his breath, but the brunet simply smiled, leaning back in their seat as they looked at the ceiling. 

“Everything will turn out alright in the end, I think.” They said, and Leon cocked his head at them. “I mean,” they shrugged. “Love conquers all, and all that, right?”

“You’re saying… it won’t matter if he knows, if I know?” Leon ventured. The little Champion hummed. “Because… we love each other.”

“Yes, basically.” They shrugged. “Don’t beat yourself up over this whole thing. It’s just the two of you asking the one question you’d already answered ages ago.”

Leon blinked at them. “The one question we’ve already… answered.”

“Ages ago.” They nodded. “That’s what Hop and I think.”

Leon looked down at his hands, wiggling his ring finger gingerly, and the brunette gave him a sweet smile. 

“No matter what, you already know the answer, don’t you?”

Leon huffed. “You’re being quite the wise little thing today, aren’t you?”

The little Champion blew him a raspberry, and Leon burst out laughing, ruffling their hair as their petulance disappeared in their wide grin and bright laughter. 

“I’m not allowed to offer you words of wisdom just because I’m a kid?” They teased, and Leon sobered up, shaking his head as he hugged them one-armed. 

“No, it’s not that.” Leon said. “I just… I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time now. It’s almost overwhelming, when just a year ago, around this time, Raihan and I had to hide.”

The little Champion sobered up that. “From Rose?”

Leon nodded. 

“Of course, we knew we had no reason to hide from the world, but Rose… Rose was different.” Leon’s hands balled into fists. “We always had to hide the fact we spend his ruts together. We couldn’t give off any indication that we were together, that we were stealing time with each other when he wasn’t looking, or behind closed doors.”

The brunet’s expression fell, and they gently wrapped their hand around Leon’s. 

“I…” they began, but Leon shook his head. 

“I would never want you or Hop to learn the whole truth.” Leon said, and laughed bitterly. “Does that make me selfish?”

“It makes you a protector.” They replied. “Unfortunately, we’ve kinda figured it out.”

“Anyone who watches the telly could figure it out. Even if the news already heavily omitted things.” Leon sighed, shaking his head, and they smiled at him pityingly. “Well, better you hear it from the news than from me. I don’t know if I could survive breaking down in front of Hop.”

“He’s survived watching you lose.” They said, and Leon looked at them. “He can survive whatever you throw at him.” They gave him a wink, and flexed their arm, patting their little bicep, their own signature pose to replace Leon’s Charizard Pose. Leon’s lips pulled up into a hopeful smile. “That’s what us Normal-types can do, after all!”

Leon mirrored their gesture, and they beamed. 

“Raihan can do all the cool stuff with his secondary typing, but we’re tough as nails!” The little Champion huffed. “Just because we’re Normal, doesn’t mean we can’t be strong!”

“Right.” Leon grinned, and the brunet nodded, settling down. 

“So Hop can take it.” They said, and elbowed Leon lightly. “And so can you.”

Leon nodded, and pulled them in for a hug. The brunette sighed happily, hugging Leon back, and when they parted, they gave him a grin. 

“Kick that kid’s arse out there.” They said, and Leon grinned widely.

“You and Hop should hang out with Raihan less, with that dirty mouth of his.” He shook his head. 

“Can’t avoid that if he’s your husband.” They winked, and Leon laughed. “Good luck out there.”

“Of course!” He shot to his feet with a Charizard Pose, and the little Champion cheered delightedly, clapping with enthusiasm as Leon settled down, grinning at them. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” They nodded, and Leon strode out into the pitch. Their smile faded somewhat, and they looked down at their lap. “Raihan…” They murmured. “I hope you’re right about this…”

* * *

Raihan showed up at the window of their apartment on his Flygon at precisely 5 in the evening. Leon had just stepped out of the bathroom from a long, well-deserved bath following the closing ceremony of that season’s Gym Challenge, and was standing by their bed in only a bathrobe, wrapping a towel around his hair to help dry it out when he heard the sound of a knock at the window. 

“Lee!” Raihan’s voice was muffled by the window, but Leon _ definitely _heard the wolf whistle from his boyfriend as he spluttered indignantly, panicking to cover himself up as Darude flapped powerfully once, popping their window open. Raihan jumped off the Flygon’s back, sending him back into his ball as he strode into their apartment. He gave Leon a wink, eyeing him from head to toe lasciviously. “Hey there, sexy.” 

“Shut up.” Leon rolled his eyes, pulling off the towel on his head to toss it at him, smirking at the wet _ smack _of it against Raihan’s face. His boyfriend spluttered in protest, yanking the towel off his head in time to see Leon darting forward towards him. Panicked, Raihan made a move to push Leon away, when Leon sidestepped his arms, and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Welcome home.”

Raihan blinked at him in surprise as Leon pulled away, grinning at him, and he recovered quickly enough to move in for a more proper kiss on Leon’s lips. Leon wrapped his arms around the back of Raihan’s neck to deepen it, and when they parted for air, their smiles mirrored each other’s. 

“Hey.” Raihan murmured, and Leon chuckled.

“Hey yourself.” He said. “My, Mr. Raihan. You’ve caught me with my pants down.”

“And the rest of the lot.” Raihan leered, reaching down to toy with the ribbon holding Leon’s bathrobe closed. “I’m tempted to just not go to PokéLand…”

“Raihan.” Leon laughed, all token resistance as he batted at Raihan’s hand as he went ahead and undid the ribbon. “C’mon. We had plans.” 

“Mm, and plans can change.” Raihan hummed, leaning forward to kiss Leon again, swallowing his boyfriend’s laughter in their kiss. Leon pulled away, smiling fondly as he shook his head, patting Raihan’s cheek. 

“Be a good boy, my little dragon.” He tapped Raihan’s nose, and the taller man pouted at him. “Raihan. Come on now.”

“Fine, fine.” Raihan sighed petulantly, but he was smiling as he let Leon go, admiring the way the bathrobe fell open anyway, giving him an absolutely _ beautiful _view of Leon’s skin revealed to him bit by bit with every shift of soft cloth. Raihan smirked as he sat down on the bed—

“Ah, not in outside clothes.” Leon scolded.

Raihan rolled his eyes, but he got up quickly and headed over to sit down on a nearby Roggenrola-shaped cushioned stool, picking up the plush Trapinch off the bed to cuddle it. 

“Outside clothes.” Raihan sniffed. “You sound just like your mum.”

“You’ve been outside, you’ll get all that sand and dirt you love rolling around in on the sheet.” Leon huffed, unmindful of the way Raihan watched him intently as he headed to their closet, pulling the sliding doors aside to consider what to wear. “We may have laundry service, Rai, but the least we could do is keep the sheets clean so they’ll get cleaned up easier.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Raihan said, absentmindedly playing with the Trapinch’s stubby little arms. “After all, rut season is a completely different story.”

Leon spluttered at that, and Raihan burst out laughing. 

“That’s _ precisely _my point!” Leon huffed as he recovered, picking out a pair of casual slacks and a button-up shirt. “It’s embarrassing enough to hand over our sheets to them during your rut, at least the other months they’re mostly clean!”

“Yeah, I get it.” Raihan chuckled. “But it’s amazing, isn’t it—Sonia‘s published paper a year after we found out about me blew the case wide open, and now we’re discovering how to find people with secondary typing.”

“Yeah, it really is amazing. I’m really happy for her.” Leon chuckled. He draped his long hair over his shoulder and slid his bathrobe off his shoulders, and Raihan’s grin widened at the sight of his bite marks and hickeys on Leon’s skin. His eyes intently followed the movement of a lock of Leon’s hair as it fell down away from the rest to lie along the length of Leon’s back, and Raihan wolf whistled. 

“Admiring your handiwork?” Leon chuckled, letting the robe drop to the ground, exposing his whole naked back to his boyfriend, and Raihan rumbled pleasantly, nodding in approval. “I knew you would, you arrogant bastard.” He looked at Raihan over his shoulder with a fond little smile. 

“What can I say? You look gorgeous with my marks on you.” Raihan winked at him, and Leon rolled his eyes, getting to work on getting dressed. They fell quiet for a long moment, and Raihan sighed, leaning back against the wall as he went back to playing with the Trapinch’s little arms. “It’s been a year.” He said quietly, and Leon slowed down as he pulled his slacks up, absently fastening his fly as he turned to look at Raihan. 

“It has.” He nodded absently. 

“Can you believe it?” Raihan chuckled to himself, looking up at Leon as he shrugged his shirt on, striding over to Raihan. “A year of freedom… for the both of us.”

“It’s… nice.” Leon smiled sheepishly, and Raihan’s answering smile was warm, too. Leon’s lower lip quivered, and he leaned down to kiss Raihan deeply, their sighs harmonising as their lips pressed against one another in a familiar, warm slide that never failed to soothe each other. 

“No borders, no rules, no hiding.” Raihan murmured, cupping Leon’s cheek in one hand as they pulled away. He thumbed at Leon’s cheekbone, and Leon leaned into his touch. “Just us, being ourselves.”

“For the first time in forever, I feel like I could keep growing.” Leon said. “Now without Rose breathing down our necks, it’s like—I can do anything I want to.”

“Me too.” Raihan closed his eyes with a sigh, pulling Leon close to press their foreheads together. “Like the strength cap’s been taken off. I can do…” he hesitated, and Leon’s expression at him softened. “Anything I want to.”

“You know I’ll always support you.” Leon said, and Raihan smiled. 

“I know.” He opened his eyes, and Leon’s breath caught in his throat at the warm _ love _in them. “Lee, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Leon smiled, kissing him softly. “Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary, babe.” Raihan replied, and let Leon go. “You gonna get dressed now or do you need… _ help?_” He gave Leon a cheeky little grin, and Leon rolled his eyes. 

“Your _ help _ will only derail our plans for tonight, asshole.” He replied, and Raihan burst out laughing as Leon headed back to the front of the closet to finish getting dressed. “Don’t tell me you’re coming with me on our date looking like _ that, _Rai? The restaurant’s dress code is semi-formal.”

Raihan blew him a raspberry. “You know I look good in anything. I’ve had people screaming over my post-battle pics where I’m soaked to the bone.”

“You were also shirtless, punk.” Leon shot back, and Raihan laughed. “I’ve seen them, you know!”

“Fine, fine!” Raihan huffed. “I was waiting for you to pick something out so I don’t overshadow you with how good I look.” Leon rolled his eyes at him as he grinned widely. “I’ll just take a quick shower.” 

“Finally.” Leon drawled, and Raihan gave him a wink. 

“Care to join me?” He purred, and Leon put his hands on his hips, huffing exasperatedly. 

“Rai, I _ just _got dressed.” He said, but he was grinning slightly, already undoing his buttons. “I swear, you’re insatiable. Wasn’t your last rut just the other week?” 

“Mm, can’t seem to recall.” Raihan grinned wider, crossing the room in three strides as he tossed the Trapinch plush onto their bed. He rested his hands on Leon’s hips, smoothing them over the hem of his slacks as he began to undo Leon’s buttons from the bottom up, and his boyfriend laughed fondly, shaking his head.

“Oh, you would forget, wouldn’t you, you silly dragon?” He chuckled, leaning up to kiss Raihan as their hands met halfway. Their mouths moved slowly together as Raihan’s large hand wrapped around Leon’s wrists, while the other one slowly slid up Leon’s toned stomach, sliding under the shirt as it made its way up to his shoulder to push it off. 

“That’s not a no.” Raihan grinned against Leon’s lips, and Leon nipped at them in retaliation, and the taller man laughed. “Mm. _Feisty._”

“Only a massive idiot would say no to a proposition like that.” Leon murmured, dropping his shirt to the ground, getting to work on his slacks. “Just don’t mess me up too much.”

“Who said I was messing with you?” Raihan replied, pulling away with a grin, and Leon gaped at him. “C’mon, big boy. At least one of us can still walk after getting railed to kingdom come.”

“_Wow._” Leon drawled, surprise gone at Raihan’s statement, and his boyfriend snickered as he made his way to their bedside table— _ his _ side, of course—to pull out a half-full bottle of lube. “Raihan, condoms! I am _ not _going creampie you before a date, have some manners!” He tugged his slacks off with a huff, shaking his head exasperatedly.

“Boo.” Raihan pouted, but pulled out a foil packet from the drawer, too. He bit the corner of it, holding it with his mouth as he grinned at Leon impishly. “C’mon, then.” He said past the foil in his mouth, and Leon shook his head fondly, hurrying forward to snatch it out from between Raihan’s teeth. He swallowed his boyfriend’s laughter in their kiss, wrapping his arm around his waist as Raihan began to head towards their bathroom. 

“Into the shower.” Leon murmured, tugging on Raihan’s shorts as they stumbled into the bathroom. Raihan hummed in approval, pulling away just far enough to yank his shirt off, and Leon busied himself with pulling his underwear off. “Oh, don’t slip—”

“_Fuck!_” Raihan swore just as he slipped over the water on the tiles, his hand shooting up to grip their towel rack to stay upright, and Leon burst out laughing, wrapping his arms around his midsection as it began to ache. “Damn it, Lee! At least remember to mop up the water after you shower!” 

“Sorry, sorry!” Leon chuckled, striding over to Raihan to help him get up onto his feet, pressing an apologetic kiss to his temple as the taller man straightened up, pouting petulantly.

“This is so unsexy.” He mumbled, but he couldn’t stop the smile that crossed his face when Leon laughed with him as he bundled Raihan into their almost too-small shower stall. “This is even unsexier, Leon.” Raihan chuckled as they stood crowding into each other. 

“We’ll find a way around it.” Leon replied easily, leaning up to kiss Raihan again as he crowded his boyfriend into the wall with a rumbling little chuckle against his chest. Leon pulled away suddenly, squeezing his eyes shut as he laughed deliriously. “Shit, I just realised you’d have to dry your dreads out.” 

“Oh, yeah. You gotta wait the whole damn package, babe.” Raihan winked at him, and Leon rolled his eyes. “C’mon, the restaurant reservation is at 7.”

“I’d wanted to have seen you screaming on the roller coaster again.” Leon replied, and Raihan tutted, wagging his finger at him.

“Not today.” He grinned. “Maybe you can make me scream about something else?”

“You’re _ hilarious, _ darling.” Leon deadpanned, and Raihan snickered as he reached behind him to turn the shower on. Warm water streamed over them, and they shared a moment to sigh in contentment as warmth washed over them. “I _ just _ took a shower, jeez…”

“You didn’t say no, babe.” Raihan laughed, turning around to reach for his shampoo on the shelf above the one that had Leon’s things. “And besides—ooh!”

Leon held him by his hips, and he looked at him over his shoulder, grinning as the air between them grew heavy and hot, his eyes thinning into draconic slits. “Hey.” He greeted, and Leon grinned up at him, pressing a kiss to his nape.

“Hey yourself, Rai.” He grumbled, biting down on Raihan’s neck, and his boyfriend let out a hiss of approval, eagerly rutting his hips back against Leon’s, grinning wider when he felt Leon’s half-hard cock pressing into his ass. “_Raihan._”

“Just helping you get along.” Raihan growled, an otherworldly rumble in his throat that told Leon he was slowly growing more draconic than human, and Raihan dropped his head forward to rest against the cool tiles of their shower stall. Leon couldn’t help but grin as he nuzzled Raihan’s nape, earning him a rather undignified whine from Raihan when he didn’t get what he wanted. “_Leeee._”

“Be a good boy.” Leon murmured against Raihan’s skin, running his hands down the length of Raihan’s spine in a slow, sensual swipe of heat, and he grinned when he felt Raihan shiver at the sensation. He ran his blunt fingernails over the spot on Raihan’s shoulder that was still healing from when he bit into it from Raihan’s last rut. 

A strangled moan escaped his dragon’s throat as Raihan’s hands tightened into fists against the wall where he’d braced himself, and Leon smiled to himself at the sight of Raihan holding himself as still as he could.

“Rai,” he said softly, and earned him a little grunt in acknowledgement. “Get started on washing yourself up, won’t you?”

“Wh—Lee?” Raihan looked at his boyfriend over his shoulder, but Leon tutted, turning his head back to face the wall, gently wrapping his hand around Raihan’s wrist to squeeze it. Raihan blinked at it confusedly as Leon slowly moved his hand up to loosen Raihan’s fist, and when it was open, he moved it up to have him reach for his toiletries again. 

“Be a good boy and get started on washing yourself clean.” He murmured into Raihan’s ear, relishing the rumbling groan that escaped his boyfriend’s throat, and he grinned when Raihan snatched the bottle from the shelf with a barely-concealed snarl. He pressed a kiss to the crook of Raihan’s neck, and the other man could feel his smile pressed into his warm, sensitive skin. He reached around Raihan’s body, and chuckled when he felt his boyfriend’s already weeping erection, wrapping his hand loosely around it. Raihan winced, jerking involuntarily in an aborted little movement, desperately holding still—

Because Leon still hadn’t told him he could.

“What a good boy.” Leon hummed, giving Raihan’s cock a firm pump as a reward. “That’s it.”

“Lee,” Raihan groaned, but he reluctantly pulled himself upright, as if moving took too much effort, but he managed it somehow, pouring far too much shampoo into his hand with an iron-tight squeeze. “Please… please…”

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Leon hushed him gently, “Come on now. Up.”

Raihan grumbled petulantly, but he obeyed, his arms shakily coming up to start washing himself up. Leon nodded approvingly, uncapping the lube with one hand while his other hand smoothed down Raihan’s back again, admiring the straining, toned muscles under taut bronze skin. “I love you so much, Rai.” He pressed a kiss to Raihan’s shoulder as he drizzled lube over his fingers, rubbing it between them and out of the way of the water spray to warm it up.

“Love… you too.” Raihan managed, choking slightly. He faltered in his actions when he felt Leon’s fingers slip between his cheeks, rubbing teasingly at his hole. “_Lee. _ Lee, please, please…”

“Shh,” Leon hushed him again, smiling fondly as Raihan looked at him witheringly over his shoulder, pouting. Leon could feel his chest swell at the sight of Raihan looking at him like that, eyes thin into slits like the dragon he was, but his head was covered in soap, bringing him closer to being human just like Leon was. He moved forward to kiss him, smiling against his lips as Raihan kissed him back, pushing his hips back against his fingers. “Shh, shh.”

“What happened to being in a rush?” Raihan mumbled, and Leon realised that he was _ definitely _not trying hard enough to have him incoherent with lust. The taller man snickered slightly, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I can hear you thinking.”

“And somehow I can hear _ you _thinking too.” Leon pouted. “How are you so much better at making me go incoherent than I am doing the same to you?”

“You’re just not trying hard enough.” Raihan chuckled, pecking the tip of Leon’s nose sweetly, and Leon huffed. “And, unlike you, I can hardly wait to get a finger inside someone. As you should be doing right about now.”

“You’re such a _ brat._” Leon groaned, and slipped his finger inside his boyfriend until the first knuckle. Raihan hissed in approval, arching his back against Leon’s chest, shuddering in pleasure as he felt sparks of heat surge up his spine. 

“That’s more like it.” Raihan managed past a smirk, and Leon huffed, rolling his eyes as he pushed his finger deeper into him. Raihan jumped when Leon’s finger suddenly hooked to press against his prostate, snarling angrily as his eyes widened. He dropped his head down back against the tiles as he whined, squirming helplessly as Leon wiggled his finger inside him. Leon tutted mildly, and he held himself still, whimpering slightly as Leon began to fuck him slowly with his finger. 

“See, as a dragon you’re more obedient.” Leon hummed, slipping in another finger inside Raihan, and the taller man snarled, hands balled into tight fists against the wall as soap and water dripped down from his shoulders. Leon chuckled at that, and shook his head. “Fine, fine. Let’s get you sorted out, you insatiable bastard.”

He began fingering Raihan in earnest, drawing out violent snarls from his boyfriend as he loosened up easily around his fingers. Still, Raihan’s hands remained obediently pressed against the wall, unmoving as Leon opened him up with his fingers. When Leon deemed him ready, pulling his fingers out of him to put the condom on, Raihan let out a shaky sigh, slumping forward against the wall as he laughed deliriously. 

“That all you got?” He said, shakily reaching up to rinse his dreads off. 

“Maybe I do hate you,” Leon laughed affectionately, pressing his forehead against Raihan’s shoulder as his boyfriend laughed too, reaching behind him to squeeze whatever part of Leon he could reach—his arm. “You’re the worst. I’m leaving you.”

“Oh, no.” Raihan drawled, “Whatever will I do without your cock in me?” 

Leon snorted, bursting into snickers as Raihan laughed, too. 

“This ought to shut you up.” Leon grumbled, lining his cock up with Raihan’s hole, and the taller man looked at him over his shoulder, smirking. 

“If that’s not your cock, I’m genuinely going to walk out of the—_nngh._” Raihan’s snarky quip broke off into a strained groan when Leon slid home with a huff. His spine arched as he hissed through a dazed smirk, and he shuddered when Leon’s cock pressed right against his prostate, relishing in the grunt Leon gave as his hips met Raihan’s. 

“Guess I was right.” Leon panted, laughing weakly. “You alright, Rai?”

“Y-yeah.” Raihan nodded. “G-gimme a minute.”

“Take your time.” Leon replied, wincing. “Oh, fuck. Raihan, you’re _ tight._”

“Y-yeah?” Raihan laughed breathlessly. “Normally… this is. The other way around.”

“That’s fair.” Leon chuckled. “You ready?”

Raihan took a shaky breath, and squeezed around Leon with a little smirk. Leon flinched, his hips stuttering against Raihan’s in an involuntary jerk, and Raihan gasped, his smirk widening into a grin. 

“Oh, you _ little shit._” Leon growled, pulling out until just the tip stayed inside Raihan. 

“You should know by now how—_ah!_” Raihan’s words scattered into the air like marbles on glass as Leon fucked back into him, and stuttering moans spilled from grinning lips as Leon began to fuck him in earnest. His boyfriend’s hands were tight on his hips, grip white-knuckled as he pistoned in and out of Raihan, and the taller man reached behind him to grab Leon’s hip. “Y-yeah, yes—Lee—_nggrrh._” 

An otherworldly growl escaped Raihan’s throat as he jerked his hips back against Leon’s thrusts, meeting him halfway to press the fat head of his cock into his prostate. His own cock remained neglected in front of him, engorged and weeping angrily, furious heat bulging in the knot that was growing at the base of it. He snarled desperately, squirming under Leon’s weight on his back as Leon fucked him, speech escaping his thought process as the dragon in his blood roared its approval. 

He bucked against Leon desperately as he felt his orgasm approaching, whining desperately as he looked at his boyfriend over his shoulder. “Lee… Lee…” He begged, and Leon’s eyes softened at the way Raihan’s draconic eyes welled with tears.

Leon hummed, nodding knowingly as he slowed down, chuckling at Raihan’s groan of protest, his hips jerking back in an attempt to speed Leon up again, but Leon tutted.

“Ah, ah. Be a good boy.” He said easily, as if he was disciplining one of his Pokémon, and Raihan whined, but obeyed, holding still as he dropped his head forward sheepishly. “I know what you need, Raihan.”

His hand snaked forward to wrap loosely around his cock, drumming his fingers lightly over Raihan’s swollen knot, and his dragon groaned in approval. Leon kissed Raihan’s neck tenderly, slowly beginning to thrust into him again in languid movements, and Raihan shuddered, feeling every inch of Leon’s cock pushing in and out of him, pressing against his prostate in a steady rhythm. He whined desperately, the friction from Leon’s loose fist around his cock not enough, and Leon chuckled. 

“Okay, fine.” He hummed, licking a stripe up the side of Raihan’s neck, before sinking his teeth into it. Raihan _ roared, _ his eyes going wide as Leon’s hand closed around his cock, stroking him hard and fast as he began to pick up the pace. Leon fucked into Raihan in earnest this time, and Raihan jerked his hips back against Leon’s eagerly. 

They felt their orgasms slam into them at the same time, and Raihan came with an angry shout, spilling white against the tiles of their shower stall. Leon buried himself into Raihan as he came, detaching himself from Raihan’s neck, panting heavily as he spat out the blood that had gotten into his mouth. 

“Oh, Arceus.” Leon panted, and Raihan laughed faintly.

“That’s not my name, babe.”

Leon laughed tiredly, running his hand through his hair as he gingerly pulled out. Raihan winced as he slumped down against the wall, and Leon looked at him worriedly. 

“You alright?” He asked, and Raihan nodded, laughing fondly as he pulled himself up onto his feet. 

“C’mon,” he said, taking Leon’s hands and pulling him under the spray of water. “Let’s get you cleaned up, too.”

Leon laughed fondly at that, pulling out from under the water and wiping his face of excess water. Raihan didn’t let him speak, leaning in to kiss him deeply, and they smiled into each other’s lips as they wrapped their arms around each other, swaying leisurely under the warm water.

“Our water bill is going to be horrendous.” Leon chuckled, and Raihan kissed his nose.

“Surely not a problem for Chairman Leon.” He hummed, and Leon rolled his eyes. 

“That’s not the point, Raihan.” He drawled, but he was smiling. “C’mon. As romantic as slow dancing together in the shower is, I’d really like to get to our reservation on time.” 

“We’ve got Darude and your Charizard.” Raihan murmured, leaning in for another kiss, but Leon laughed, pressing a finger against Raihan’s puckered lips.

“Nuh uh. We get to do what _ I _want now.” He said, and Raihan grinned against Leon’s finger, pressing a kiss to the tip of it, before pulling away.

“Yes, sir.” He replied with a wink, and Leon laughed fondly, shaking his head. “Ah, might as well. I have something important to tell you later, anyway.”

Leon froze at that, his heart shooting to his throat as Raihan turned around to get the soap to scrub himself down. His cheeks felt like they were on fire as he pressed a hand to his racing heart.

_ Something important. _

This was it. 

Raihan was going to propose _ tonight. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > my beta upon learning how chapter 3 of the sea between us ends [pic.twitter.com/51rAgpztcW](https://t.co/51rAgpztcW)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 14, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1217014404002107393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> :^) 


	3. The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If anything was going to happen, it was going to happen now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > writing out a pokemon battle is harder than a sex scene, i said it
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc @ ANIME LEON 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 16, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1217627658248306688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> PHEW y'all ready for this???? YEEHAW!!!
> 
> anyway GOD Y'ALL THE ANIME?? ? ? ??? OH M GOD ANIMATED LEON GRABBED MY DICK AND STOLE IT!!!!! DAMN!! it seems like the raileon fandom has been bitten by the marriage bug so i thought i'd jump into that married life as well. 
> 
> it's also my first time writing a pokemon battle! i used the the usum anime as a reference <strike>and if i have enough lack of self restraint i might write kakisato kiawe/ash in the same universe as this</strike> for the battle, so I hope you'll understand the terrible type matchups in the moves they're using!

It was nothing new to see Raihan taking pictures of him. 

Ever since they got together in Alola, Leon knew that Raihan’s camera was pointed at him, whenever it wasn’t pointed at his own face. There were even bookmarked favourites, Leon knew. There was a photo of him when they were on Exeggutor Island, cuddled inside that Alolan Exeggutor’s neck marked with a heart when he scrolled through Raihan’s camera roll, and when he asked, Raihan let him see what aspects of their lives he’d been capturing without Leon noticing. 

There were photos of Leon when he was asleep, peaceful and cuddled into either Raihan’s Trapinch plush or Raihan himself, when the sunlight streamed in from ajar curtains casting the room and Leon’s hair in a golden glow. 

There were photos of inside Leon’s closet—shaky and taken through a crack between the door, where just barely, Rose or Oleana could be visible, evidence of nights when Raihan accidentally overstayed his safe welcome, and had to hide in the closet before Rose could find him. 

There were photos of Leon’s intense gaze during battle, a fire in his golden eyes that Raihan had admitted to touching himself to more than a few times (and there, they’d discovered their propensity to switch, though the dragon still very much preferred to knot, and his treasure, to be knotted). 

Then there were photos like the one Raihan was taking right now, candid sweet moments of an everyday life no longer hidden in shadow. Leon’s smile when Raihan tells him he loves him. The healthier pallor of Leon’s skin after being freed from Rose’s influence. Leon with bits of food left on his beard or the corner of his mouth, the photos slightly blurry from Raihan’s laughter and his shaking hand. 

Right now, Raihan was taking a photo of Leon swirling a wine glass, pensively considering the dish that had been set down before them. Leon noticed the shift of his camera from their food—for his PokéGram, no doubt—to him, but he paid it no mind, only barely smiling as he smelled the red wine, and took a sip. 

He sighed as the rich flavour washed over his tongue, smiling as Raihan snapped another picture again before finally setting his Rotom Phone down. 

“You’ve been taking a lot of photos lately.”

“I’ve got over a million followers on PokéGram.” Raihan grinned at him, and speared a piece of what looked like Slowpoke tail with his fork. “Gotta make content _ somehow, _ y’know.”

“With how much you make from sponsorships, endorsements and peacekeeping, I’m surprised you’re also looking at ad rev.” Leon said, following Raihan’s example more sedately, and laughed as his boyfriend practically tossed the large cut of meat into his mouth. “And that’s not mentioning your family’s net worth.”

“Can’t I just like being vain online and being validated for it?” Raihan grinned past the food in his mouth, and Leon tutted at him. He blew his boyfriend a raspberry, but swallowed it down. “And _ you’re _one to talk, Mr. Million Net Worth.”

“_Macro Cosmos _ is worth that much. I earn much less, thank you very much.” Leon scoffed. 

“Doesn’t stop the press from calling you my sugar daddy anyway.” 

Leon spluttered at that, feeling his cheeks burn as Raihan’s smirk widened. He tore his gaze away from his boyfriend, which was already a Herculean task with how _ handsome _Raihan was tonight. 

He’d been right about overshadowing Leon’s fashion, in the end. Leon had picked out a simple pair of black slacks, a white shirt and a blue suit jacket to wear out. Raihan, ever the fashionista, stepped out after him in a pair of slim black slacks that really accentuated his legs, a wine-red polo that was opened several buttons from the top, a black silk waistcoat with Hammerlocke’s draconic pattern embroidered on it in delicate gold. His suit jacket, maroon, was shrugged off his shoulders, hanging off his elbows like a beloved feather boa, and a set of three different colours of gold chains hung from his neck, resting on sharp collarbones and framing a healing hickey that was proudly on display. He’d switched out his earring studs for a single long golden chain, delicate and fluttering in the slightest wind, on his left ear, and he left his headband behind to simply slick back his dreads, and the look was complete with a swipe of nude lipstick—and a heated kiss with Leon before they let their Pokémon out. 

(The last time Raihan checked—not that Leon _ asked, _ jeez—their selfie showing off their outfits was nearing a hundred thousand likes on PokéGram alone. Leon didn’t even _ want _to know what the comments section looked like.)

Back to the topic at hand, though—looking away from Raihan. Which was _ mostly _impossible. 

Raihan smirked at him, cocking his head slightly as he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. 

“Lee?” He purred, and Leon flinched. 

_ Mostly. _Impossible. 

“Why, did you like it when I called you my sugar daddy?” Raihan cooed, and Leon spluttered. He shook his head wildly as Raihan burst out laughing, leaning back into his seat as he stifled his laughter with his hand. “_Lee. _ Holy shit.”

“Shut up, it’s as dumb as you think it sounds.” Leon grumbled, crossing his arms, and Raihan fell quiet, grinning at him fondly. “You’re just… stupidly handsome, okay?”

“I like that explanation better, sure.” Raihan hummed, nodding sagely. “But hey, can’t I take lots of pictures of my boyfriend? Is that not allowed?”

Leon shook his head exasperatedly. “Oh, shut it, you drama queen. I was just making an observation.” He picked up a piece of meat again and ate it, chewing thoughtfully. “It’s just… a bit embarrassing, I suppose.”

“What, that I love my boyfriend’s face?” Raihan asked smoothly, and Leon felt his cheeks burn.

At the beginning of their relationship, it had always been embarrassing to hear Raihan call him that—_his boyfriend, _ wow. Hearing it made the fact sink in that they were _ together _ now, after everything they’d been through. That this was _ real. _

Now, it rang differently in Leon’s ear. Sure, it was nice to hear, but the little Champion’s words echoed in his head. 

_ Can’t avoid that if he’s your husband. _

Husband. 

It echoed in his mind, overlaying Raihan’s voice until it was his own. 

_ My husband. _

Leon coughed delicately, when Raihan hummed pleasantly, cocking his head again. Leon swallowed nervously, and it felt like the ring he was carrying in his suit jacket pocket was as heavy as the world. He could feel its weight pulling his jacket down, he could feel it burning a brand into his skin. 

Oh, he couldn’t wait. 

“Hey, Rai?” he said instead, to distract himself and keep him from springing his question too damn early. Raihan raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s okay. The pictures, I mean. Don’t think that I don’t want you indulging in your hobby or that I hate it.” He reached forward for Raihan’s hand, and the other man took it gingerly, letting Leon lace their fingers together. “I understand why.”

Raihan’s eyes widened. “You… do?”

“We’ve been seeing each other less and less lately, after all.” 

“Oh.” Raihan’s expression fell at that, and his shoulders slumped. “I… I’m…”

“It must have been lonely.” Leon squeezed his hand as he lifted it, kissing his knuckles. “I’m sorry.”

Raihan’s expression tightened at him, for some reason, and Leon frowned slightly. He straightened up, cocking his head at his boyfriend. “Rai?”

“No, I…” Raihan began to say, but he shook his head. “Lee, it’s okay. I know you’re busy.” He gave Leon a sad little smile, and Leon’s heart ached at the sight of it. “It’s hard, running a company by yourself, I know. You don’t have to apologise, it’s for Galar’s sake.”

“I just want you to know you’re still the most important person in my life.” Leon replied, squeezing Raihan’s hand again, and the taller man’s eyes grew watery. “Raihan, without you I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be happy.” 

The ring was a heavy weight against his skin, emboldening Leon to keep talking. 

“I love you so much. Whatever happens in the future—tomorrow, next year, whenever, I…” He smoothed his hand over his pocket, reassuring himself with the presence of the ring there, and smiled. “I’ll always love you. Until the day I die.”

“What’s all this?” Raihan laughed shakily, but Leon knew he was about to cry, judging by the way his voice crumbled at the sides, brittle with emotion Leon knew he was holding back. It was likely he was still trying to look cool for the cameras that were no doubt pointed at them, and on any normal circumstances, Leon would have been too embarrassed to say the things he did, but tonight was special.

Tomorrow, it wouldn’t even matter. 

“Th-that’s uncool, Lee.” Raihan laughed, wiping at his eyes with his free hand as he squeezed Leon’s hand in his, too. Leon felt his own eyes prickling with emotion as he smiled warmly at his boyfriend, who sniffled bitterly, drowning his little outburst of emotion with a sip of red wine. “Eugh. _ Not _high fashion.” 

“You’re still gorgeous as ever, Rai.” Leon chuckled, wiping at his eyes, too, and Raihan laughed again, shaking his head. 

“I love you too.” He said. “I think we’ve been saying this over and over again today.”

“Today’s special, we’ll allow it.” 

Raihan laughed at that, and nodded, letting Leon’s hand go to run his hand through his dreads, sighing. “Look at us. Already so stupid mushy after just the one year.”

“I can only hope we’ll get softer.” Leon replied sincerely, and Raihan blinked at him. He sniffled slightly, wiping at his eye again as he gave Raihan a wide grin. “Like a little Goomy after a meal!”

Raihan burst out laughing at that, nodding helplessly, and Leon’s smile was soft at him as he watched his boyfriend slowly calm down from his laughter. 

Raihan was beautiful, he thought. In the dim candlelight between them, framed with the gold befitting of the dragon underneath the silk, ice blue eyes bright like fire and filled with joyful tears—Raihan was beautiful. 

Tonight was going so perfectly, he thought. The mood was just right, and soon, the timing would be, too.

“Hey,” he said, and Raihan looked at him, warm and unbridled affection in his gaze, and it made Leon’s heart _ sing. _ He smiled goofily, and Raihan mirrored his smile with a grin. “Do you have any plans after this?”

“Not sure what you have in mind, handsome.” Raihan chuckled, swirling his wine thoughtfully. “_Please _ don’t make me win you _ another _plush tonight, I’ve had a drink.”

“No, nothing like that.” Leon laughed, reaching into his pocket, and Raihan blinked at him as he pulled out Charizard’s Pokéball from the inside breast pocket of his jacket, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “Wanna have a Pokémon battle with me at the Battle Tower?”

Raihan grinned widely, nodding. 

“You bet.” He said, taking Charizard’s Pokéball from Leon’s proffered hand, and putting his own Pokéball in its place. “And we’ll have one with a twist.” 

Leon lit up, and he beamed brightly, nodding as he held Darude’s ball with Raihan. 

“Deal!”

* * *

The nearby waiter on his phone looked up from where he was pretending to scroll, and met his friend’s gaze. 

“Damn,” She said, chuckling fondly. “Leave it to _ them _to make Pokémon battles romantic!”

* * *

“Here they come, here they come!”

The sound of a Flygon and a Charizard landing heavily on the road outside the Battle Tower was a familiar, comforting one, and Hop beamed as he saw his brother and Raihan jump down, laughing together about something. Leon was carrying a large Goomy plush, and Hop’s smile softened up as his partner huffed fondly, stepping forward to stand next to him. 

“Lee! Raihan!” He called, and the two men blinked at them in surprise as they sent their Pokémon back to their Pokéballs. Leon and Raihan shared a confused look, before looking at the two teens as they approached them. 

“Hop? Champ?” Raihan asked, and the little Champion whistled at the sight of him. 

“Wow, someone dressed up!” They teased, and Raihan laughed kindly as Leon rolled his eyes, hugging the Goomy plush close to himself. 

“_Someone _ said he didn’t want to upstage me when we were picking out our clothes, and look what happened to _ that._” He huffed. 

“C’mon, babe. You don’t mind, do you?” Raihan grinned, leaning down to kiss Leon’s temple, and Hop made a show of gagging, but he was grinning, and the little Champion stifled their giggle behind their hands. Raihan grinned wider, suddenly dipping Leon to kiss him deeply.

“Raihan!” Hop squealed in alarm, as the brunet next to him began cheering delightedly, jumping up and down in place as Leon laughed into Raihan’s mouth, clinging onto him and squeezing the Goomy plush between their chests when he wobbled dangerously. Raihan held onto him securely as he lifted Leon onto his feet, the both of them laughing delightedly as they pressed their foreheads together. “Jeez, did the whole prop—mmph!” 

The Champion’s hand shot up to smother the rest of Hop’s sentence, shooting him a stern look as realisation sank in, and Hop clammed up as his brother and Raihan pulled apart, smiling as they looked into each other’s eyes. 

“You’re lucky they get so absorbed in each other,” the little Champion murmured to Hop, and he nodded gingerly. The two children straightened up when the older men looked at them, and the brunet gave them a wide smile. “Welcome to the Battle Tower, Gym Leader Raihan!”

“Chairman Leon!” Hop added, and the two of them bowed with a flourish. “It’s a pleasure to have you tonight!”

“What’s this?” Raihan laughed, looking at Leon, who shrugged, shaking his head, just as clueless as his boyfriend was. “Kids?”

“We just wanted a part in your anniversary celebration.” Hop beamed at them. “So we thought we’d help you out tonight while you have a Pokémon battle right here!” 

Raihan and Leon looked lost, but the Champion looked at them sternly, turning slightly away from a certain direction. 

“Don’t look now,” they said, “But there’s already paparazzi here. And people will be coming soon to intrude on your battle tonight.” 

“We won’t let that happen.” Hop nodded, and the two men’s eyes widened at the teens. “We’ll have our own Pokémon battle and get all the attention up on the top floor. Lee, you and Raihan can have your battle on a lower floor.”

“So you guys can make your _ getaway _when the time comes.” The little Champion winked at them, and the two men grinned at them fondly. 

“_Victor._” Leon sighed.

“_Gloria!_” Raihan laughed. 

The little Champion beamed at them. 

“Go, go!” Hop grinned, ushering them in. “I’ll even take the Goomy home for you, Lee!”

“You just want to hug it yourself, Hop.” The Champion teased, and Hop elbowed them, laughing sheepishly. 

“It’s alright.” Leon laughed, handing the Goomy plush to Hop, and his little brother cheered delightedly, hugging the plush happily. “Just make sure you get him home to our flat in Wyndon, alright? Not Hammerlocke, not like last time.” 

“Sure thing.” Hop nodded, and Raihan and Leon gave them twin smiles as they bundled the two of them into the staff lift. “We promise, Lee, tonight, it’s just you and Raihan. Make the most of it!” 

“Good luck, you two.” The little Champion said, and Leon beamed at them.

(He missed the way Raihan’s eyebrows knitted together with nerves, and the shaky clench of his fist in his pocket.)

“Thanks.” He said, and turned to look at Raihan, who gave him a faint little smile. “Let’s go.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and the doors slid shut in front of them. When the elevator started moving, he heaved a heavy sigh of exasperation, and Leon looked at him worriedly. 

“Rai?”

“Lee, let‘s play hooky.” He said, and Leon blinked at him in confusion. Raihan gave him a little grin, and bumped their shoulders together. “Let‘s get out of here, I mean. To somewhere more private.”

Leon’s eyes widened in understanding, as Raihan laced their fingers together. 

“I… I want this to be a private thing.” Raihan said, and Leon’s expression softened at him. He swallowed thickly, and pressed on. “Where can we go where no one can find us?”

“I can think of a place.” Leon said, and Raihan gave him a faint little smile. 

“I… think I can, too.”

* * *

For all his years sneaking around with Raihan behind the backs of everyone in Galar, Leon realised that he’d never seen the inside of Hammerlocke Stadium when it was closed. He’d assumed it was always open, though, with the castle lit up every night like a glimmering jewel adorning the crown that rested atop Galar, and as he and Raihan landed Darude and his Charizard on the roof where Leon’s freedom began, Leon couldn’t help but feel tender at the sight of it. 

A few months ago, he could barely look at this rooftop without going into a panic attack. 

He could remember how terrifying it was—to face off something as massive as Eternatus was, alone with Charizard, the knife that was Rose’s ambitions at his back. It was terrifying, to turn around and see his beloved brother and the little Champion rushing up to him from the lift, to know that he _ had _to succeed, not just for Galar, not just for Raihan and his home, but for the two little children he’d sworn to keep as far away from Rose as he could. 

And then he _ failed—_and lost his vision for three days after that. The darkness was the only constant for those few frightening days, alongside the comforting weight of a hissing, growling dragon on top of him. Raihan had been by his side the entire time, unwilling to let go of Leon unless he was pulled off by one of his Pokémon or by the hospital’s assisting fairy-type Pokémon. 

Now, a year later, Leon could stand on the place where he lost for the first time in a decade, and smile. Raihan gave him a little grin as they headed to the lift, and Leon flushed at having been caught reminiscing. 

“Bit nostalgic, isn’t it?” He asked warmly as they waited for the lift to come for them, and Leon nodded. “I’d have wanted to battle you up here, but I didn’t want to trigger you.”

Leon’s smile softened at him, and he pressed a kiss to his cheek as the lift arrived with a little _ ding. _

“Thank you, Rai. You’re really too sweet on me.” He murmured, and Raihan beamed at him. 

“I’d like to think that kind of thing was a prerequisite to being a good boyfriend, but I’ll take the kisses, anyway.” Raihan chuckled, pulling Leon with him into the lift. He pulled Leon into a deep kiss as the doors in front of them slid shut, crowding him into the wall and swallowing his laughter between their lips as he moved them together. They parted for air, smiling, and Raihan pressed his forehead against Leon’s. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Make out in an elevator?” Leon chuckled. “Raihan, where have you been these past few years?” 

“No,” Raihan huffed petulantly. “I _ mean, _make out with you here. Specifically, in Hammerlocke Castle.”

“Hmm, desecrating your family’s legacy, are we?”

“It’s too distant to matter.” Raihan grumbled, moving down to press kisses to Leon’s throat. “I just like the idea of us making out somewhere I’m supposed to be taking care of.”

“Like we haven’t been having sex in my office at HQ.” Leon rolled his eyes, and Raihan grinned at him toothily. 

“It’s different.” He said, and his eyes thinned to slits, his fangs glinting threateningly in the dim light of the elevator, and Leon swallowed thickly, feeling heat stir under his skin. “I can see your eyes dilating, Lee. You think it’s hot, too.”

“I think _ you’re _hot.” Leon mumbled, but Raihan kissed him soundly. 

“Don’t you think it’s a little _ naughty, _ Your Majesty?” He purred against Leon’s lips. “A dragon stealing the King of Galar away to have his wicked way with him in the darkness of his very own castle?”

“I think you’re getting the metaphors mixed up, you massive history nerd.” Leon chuckled, laughing louder when Raihan nipped at his neck. “Oh, come off it, you big baby.” 

“You’re being so disagreeable, I can’t believe this.” Raihan muttered, and pulled away to pout at him. Leon grinned at him, pinching his cheek lightly as the door slid open, and he pulled Raihan out—only to stop when he looked at the hallway they were in.

“This is… to the in-house nursery.” He said, and Raihan nodded, taking Leon’s hand and leading the way. “Rai? What’re we doing here?”

“Every time someone’s on the pitch, I let them have a little audience of their own.” He gave Leon a wink, and led him onward down the corridor. They came to a stop at an unfamiliar door, and Leon cocked his head at it as they approached. Raihan hummed pleasantly as he opened it, and Leon’s eyes widened as the lights came on one by one as Raihan stepped into the room, flicking switches on with an absentminded hum. Much to Leon’s surprise, they apparently had walked into what was a little Pokémon playroom of sorts, with a one-way window looking into the darkened stadium far below them. There was a ledge at the window that was low enough for little baby Pokémon to climb onto, and Leon sat down on it absently, looking around the lavender-walled room as Raihan flicked some more lights on, and a meagre light filled the stadium when only a handful of spotlights turned on.

“What’s… in here?” He asked, looking over to where Raihan was going, which was another little door off to the side. He watched Raihan type in a passcode by the door, and it slid open, revealing to him a gaggle of little Goomies and a pack of little Trapinches all clambering to head out. Leon lit up as he shot to his feet, watching as four little Goomies all tumbled over each other heading to the ledge he’d been sitting on, while a diligent line of five Trapinches followed suit at a more sedate pace. Raihan bundled them all onwards towards the window, and they cheerfully settled in place on the windowsill, looking disappointed when nothing was on the pitch just yet. 

“Oh, Arceus.” Leon breathed, laughing as he stroked a Trapinch’s head, and it cooed at him, pressing its head into his palm. “This is so _ cute._”

“And now it’s our little secret, got it?” Raihan winked at Leon, and his boyfriend smiled at him gently. “A little something we can share between just the two of us.”

Just the two of us, he said. Leon felt his heart flutter at the thought of Raihan’s impending proposal. 

“Okay, little guys, okay, we get it. Stop crying, we’re heading down.” Raihan said, and Leon was pulled back into the present as he watched Raihan pet every single baby dragon on the ledge. He looked over at Leon, and gave him a wide grin. “The look on your face says ‘I wish I had a photo of this moment’, Lee. Want me to get my camera?”

“Shut up, I’ve got my own.” Leon huffed, but he didn’t do anything as Raihan’s Rotom phone came up to do the work for him. A ding from his own phone told him that the photo had been sent to him, and Leon smile fondly as Raihan gave him a toothy grin. “_Very _ funny.”

“You’re welcome.” He blew Leon a raspberry, but got up, offering his hand out at Leon. “C’mon. Let’s head down there and give these kids a show.” 

Leon took Raihan’s hand, but he let out an undignified squeak when Raihan pulled him close, and lifted him into his arms. 

“R-Raihan! Wh-what the—what’s—”

“And off we go!” Raihan cheered, kicking a nearby window open, and jumped right out. Leon screamed, burying his face into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck when he heard it—the sound of a Pokéball deploying. He stopped when he and Raihan landed on Darude’s back, and Raihan burst out laughing as the Flygon flew down towards the darkened pitch as above them the window they’d jumped out of slid shut. Raihan slid off Darude’s back when they landed, and he set Leon down onto his feet, grinning widely at him as he straightened up, huffing indignantly. “How’re we doing, babe?”

“I hate you.” Leon pouted, and Raihan kissed him, lifting Leon’s pout into a smile as he pulled away. “You’re the absolute worst.” He sighed happily, as Raihan pulled him into a hug.

“You still love me, that’s good.” He chuckled, and pulled away, pressing Darude’s ball into Leon’s hand. “D, listen to what Leon says, okay?”

Darude crooned in acknowledgment, flying over to Leon’s side to snuggle against his cheek. Leon laughed brightly at that, and Raihan’s gaze on them softened. Leon gave him a sweet smile as he gave Charizard’s ball to him.

“He’ll be good, I promise.” He said, as Raihan released the Charizard into the field, smiling wider as the Pokémon stretched out his wings and shook his head. He looked at Raihan and made a show of huffing petulantly, as if reluctant to take orders from the little dragon, but Raihan laughed at it, already used to Charizard’s little bouts of playful tantrums. “Red! C’mon now.”

Charizard looked at Leon in surprise, lighting up at his old nickname. He looked at Raihan, as if in disbelief, and Raihan gave him a little grin, shrugging. 

“Red, you heard the man.”

Charizard let out a weak, wobbly little growl as it charged at Leon, tackling him into a hug. Leon burst out laughing, hugging his Charizard back as he it cuddled him, and he gave his snout a little kiss as Charizard pulled away, teary-eyed. 

“I know I haven’t called you that in ages, I’m sorry.” He said gently, petting the side of Red’s snout. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

The Charizard roared feebly, and bumped his snout against Leon’s cheek again before flying behind Raihan, attentive eyes looking at Darude hovering behind Leon as both men took their places on the pitch. Leon and Raihan looked at each other fondly, before Leon thrust Darude’s ball out at Raihan, grinning widely. 

“Gym Leader Raihan! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!” He called, and Raihan smirked at him, his fangs flashing in the dim light of the stadium spotlights on them as he squeezed Red’s ball in his hand, thrusting it into the air. 

“I accept, Chairman Leon!” He cheered, and threw his arm out towards Leon. “Go, Red!”

“Darude!” Leon called, and the two Pokémon shot out into the field, claws glinting dangerously as they crossed in a perfect clash of nails gritting against each other, and their trainers smirked wider. “Use Sandstorm!” Leon barked.

“Red, fly way up! Blind spot above Leon’s head!” Raihan countered, and Red grunted in acknowledgement as he shot up to above Leon’s head, the wind generated from his powerful wings blowing his trainer’s hair up wildly. 

Darude threw his head back, roaring into the sky as a sandstorm kicked up, and the two men grinned widely behind their arms as they lifted them to protect their faces. 

“Red, Fire Blast!” Raihan barked, and Leon’s grin widened as the Charizard above him roared through the fire he spat out, rocketing through the sand surrounding Darude. The heat made the very air around them shimmer, and Raihan lit up when he saw that it was hot enough to melt the sand it passed into fractals of glass. “That’s it! Now—”

“Darude, Dragon Claw!” Leon ordered, “Send the glass back at Red!”

Darude let out a powerful cry as he pulled the glass closer to himself with a gust in the sandstorm, before lashing out with his claws, sending them flying towards Red in the air. 

“Shit!” Raihan hissed. “Dodge it, Red!”

Red nodded, diving towards the ground and lying low, wincing as he got buffeted by the sandstorm, shielding himself with his wings. 

“That’s it!” Leon nodded eagerly. “Now, Earthquake!”

“Red! Air Slash!” Raihan barked, and Leon paused. 

“Wh… what?” He blinked, but his eyes widened as realisation sank in when Red straightened up, just as Darude reared his head up, getting ready to start an earthquake. Leon’s heart shot to his throat, but he was grinning as he shook his head. “Wait, Darude! Get out of there!”

Darude looked at Leon confusedly, but Red reared back, throwing his wings forward in a vicious slash that cut through even the sandstorm, throwing forward a powerful shockwave that brought with it sand and glass left in the sandstorm. Darude let out a cry of pain as he was thrown back, flying past Raihan to slam against the wall. 

“Darude!” Leon gasped. 

“That’s it! Now, charge up for a Solar Beam!” Raihan ordered, as the sandstorm petered out, and Leon lit up when Darude shot up into the air, roaring powerfully to reassure Leon that he was alright. Red reared up his head as he landed on the pitch, energy building in the back of his throat as he began to charge, spreading his wings wide. 

“Let’s cut him off before he can, Darude!” Leon called. “Cut him off with an Earthquake!” 

“This bastard,” Raihan laughed, shaking his head as Darude roared powerfully. The ground beneath them rocked dangerously, and Leon teetered on his feet, laughing delightedly, and Red cut himself off in the middle of charging to fly up, heading towards his trainer to keep him upright. “Red! You’re supposed to be on _ my _side!” He laughed harder when Red crooned worriedly, trying to lift Leon off the ground while it rocked dangerously. Darude whined, making his way over to Raihan to help him stay upright, too, and Leon and Raihan lost themselves in their laughter as Darude’s earthquake finally calmed down. 

“Fuck,” Leon laughed, pressing a kiss to Red’s snout. “That was stupid.”

“A bit, yeah?” Raihan grinned, as Darude pressed a little kiss to his head, before flying back to Leon’s side. Red was a little more reluctant to part from Leon, but soon flew back to Raihan’s side. He whined pitifully as he landed next to Raihan with a loud _ thud, _ nudging his snout into Raihan’s cheek. He laughed fondly, petting Red as Leon did the same to Darude. “Wanna keep going?” 

Red growled softly, nodding, and he looked over at Darude to see him nodding, too. He smiled, and met Leon’s gaze. 

“Using a Ground-type move against a Flying-type Pokémon.” he chuckled, and Leon beamed at him. “There’s a reason why you’re Champion, isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Leon huffed, and looked at his wrist. “Can’t Dynamax yet, huh.”

“Oh, I kept the power off.” Raihan said, and Leon cocked his head at him. He ducked his head, laughing sheepishly. “I wanted to keep it down. Keep the match vanilla, as the little Champ called it. If we went Dynamaxing like a pair of wankers, the entirety of Galar would instantly know where we are.”

Leon looked at him in surprise, but it quickly melted away into a fond smile. 

“Intimate.” He said quietly, surreptitiously patting the ring in his pocket. “I understand.” He said louder for Raihan, and his boyfriend gave him a grin. “Let’s keep going, then.” 

Raihan’s answering grin was absolutely _ radiant, _ and Leon felt his heart _ soar. _

“C’mon, Darude!” He called, and the dragon roared in delight, charging towards Red at an amazing speed. 

“Red!” Raihan called, and the Charizard darted past him, clashing with Darude again with a powerful roar. “Lock him up with Ancient Power!”

“Who’s the idiot using type disadvantages now?” Leon laughed, as Red roared, summoning rocks from the ground, launching each one at Darude. “Darude, break them up with Crunch!”

Darude charged at each rock hurled at it, maw wide open as he crunched each rock into pieces. 

“How’s that Solar Beam, Red?” Raihan called, and the Charizard nodded determinedly, flinging the last rock at Darude before he reared back, energy pooling at the back of his throat. “Let it rip!” Raihan roared, eyes wild with excitement, and Leon felt his heart thundering in his ears at the sight of him like that. 

Oh, he loved Raihan like this. When the dragon and human manifested hand in hand on his boyfriend’s countenance, true to himself and to Leon, and it felt like falling in love with him all over again.

Darude screeched at Leon, tearing him back to reality, and Leon grinned widely. 

“Darude, blind him with another Sandstorm!” He ordered, and the Flygon nodded, flying high up into the air to kick up another sandstorm. 

“Red, keep an ear out for him!” Raihan ordered, “Close your eyes!”

Leon lit up as he saw Red shut his eyes immediately, taking a deep breath as he listened out for the beat of Darude’s wings, and his chest ached at the sight of Red’s unwavering trust in Raihan’s guidance. He knew that Red and Raihan bickered often, the Fire-type Pokémon refusing to acknowledge Raihan’s draconic blood and viewing him a rival for Leon’s affections, but he knew that his Charizard never truly _ hated _Raihan.

Seeing Red trust Raihan immediately like this, faith unwavering as a powerful Solar Beam bubbled in his throat, ready to throw it out at Raihan’s word—was nothing short of _ breathtaking. _

“_Now!_”

And Red did, firing off a shot into the blinding sandstorm covering Darude, and Leon and Raihan held their breaths—

And Darude came falling out of the cloud of sand as it began to fall apart.

Raihan’s eyes widened, his heart shooting up into his throat in shock as Leon’s smile widened in awe.

“Oh, Raihan,” He sighed, his eyes twinkling as he saw Darude start to surreptitiously turn over. “I love you so, so much.”

“Lee—” Raihan said haltingly, looking thoroughly _ ruined _ in his suit, now covered in sand and half off his body. Leon was _ sure _ there were tiny cuts on both of them on both their skin and their clothes from the glass, and later, he knew he and Raihan would have to lick each other’s wounds from playing rough here but right now, Raihan looked like the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, awe and wonder in his eyes, dirty and roughed up the way he always was after fighting the way he liked to on the pitch. “Did I—holy _ shit, _did I—”

“I…” Leon laughed incredulously. “You were close.” He said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“Wh—”

“Darude, now!” Leon called. “Crunch!”

Raihan reeled back he’d been hit himself, and Red’s eyes widened when Darude’s jaw clamped down on the back of his neck, yanking him down to the ground. Red flinched, and Raihan’s hands shot up to his hair in shock as Leon’s fist tightened in determination.

“Dragon Claw!” 

Raihan’s eyes widened as Darude tossed Red up into the air, shooting up after him. 

“Red!” Raihan roared, his eyes thinning into slits, and Red jolted, whirling around to hold his claws out at Darude as the dragon struck him down, shooting him down towards the pitch. Red’s impact blew up a column of dust and sand into the air, and Raihan and Leon covered their faces to shield themselves from the damage. 

The both of them were panting, filled with adrenaline pumping through their veins as they slowly lowered their arms, gingerly watching as the remnants of Darude’s sandstorm settled down, the Flygon hovering nervously up in the air, a grimace of preparedness on his face.

Red shakily got up onto one knee, and Raihan held his breath—

But then he collapsed, groaning softly. 

Raihan and Leon stood there, numbly staring at the fainted Pokémon in the middle of the pitch as Darude landed next to Red, tenderly beginning to lick at his wounds, cleaning away the dust that had collected on Red’s scales. 

“Oh.” Raihan breathed.

“Oh!” Leon gasped. 

“You won.” Raihan looked at Leon as his boyfriend met his gaze, the world lighting up in his golden eyes. 

“I won!” Leon cheered, rushing forward towards the two Pokémon in the middle of the pitch, and Raihan stumbled there after him, dazed. Leon reached up for Darude, laughing delightedly as the dragon crooned happily, cuddling Leon in delight. Leon gave him a pet and a kiss on the nose, before kneeling carefully down by Red’s side, gently running his hand down the side of his dusty neck. “Hey, bud.”

Red groaned softly, but looked up at Leon with a smile in his eyes. Leon leaned down to press a kiss to the Charizard’s temple, and he shut his eyes contentedly. Raihan knelt down, too, cautious of any glass shards left on the ground as he took one of Red’s clawed hands in his.

“You did great, Red.” He said softly, and the Charizard chuffed pridefully, leaning up to nose at Raihan’s cheek. The dragon laughed softly, petting Red’s neck gently as Leon put him back into his Pokéball. Darude charged into Raihan’s personal space, crooning delightly as he cuddled against Raihan’s chest. Raihan laughed, hugging Darude’s neck, stroking the shimmering green scales with a wistful reverence. “You were amazing too, D.” 

Darude tittered cheerfully, and Raihan smiled at him fondly as he put Darude back into his Pokéball. He dropped down to sit and looked up at Leon, who gave him a sweet smile as he leaned forward to kiss Raihan softly. Raihan kissed him back with a warm reverence that made Leon’s chest ache, and Raihan cupped his hand over Leon’s cheek, warm and familiar, if a little gritty from the sandstorm. 

Leon and Raihan fell quiet as silence settled around them, and Leon held his breath. 

“I love you.” Raihan said quietly, and Leon nodded, unable to find his voice, nor able to trust it to stay steady. 

If anything was going to happen, it was going to happen now. 

They were both on the ground, Leon on his knees and leaning over Raihan, his hair falling in a cascade of purple around them like a private curtain, and Leon’s world narrowed onto Raihan’s ice-blue eyes, fixed steadily on him as he could see the moment a decision came to Raihan’s mind. 

“Lee.” He said. “I said I have something important to tell you.”

_ Oh, here it comes. _

Leon nodded.

“I think… tonight, you’ve finally helped me decide.”

Raihan let Leon’s face go to take both his hands, squeezing them in shaking ones, and Leon felt his eyes prickle with emotion.

_ Yes, yes, yes— _

“Lee, I’m leaving Galar for a year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to threaten me in the comments. :^) byers!


	4. Lifelong Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I was getting ready to say goodbye.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > things I got away with in chapter 3 of the sea between us because people were really into that last sentence:  
  
\- “Darude, use Sandstorm!”  
  
\- implying that Raihan is part of Galarian nobility  
  
\- naming Leon’s Charizard after someone very, very important
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1218003760053551104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i finally felt mercy on everyone who's reading this fic. i'm just glad that i got away with soooo many things last time because everyone was wildin out at the last sentence.... especially "darude, use sandstorm!" i've been waiting for the chance and i took it. i feel so powerful
> 
> anyway please enjoy my convoluted way of justifying dexit!!!! because that's all this fic is about at the end of the day!!! i'm a scientist i'm so fucking sad about corsola/cursola and the environmental implications of the energy crisis in galar!!!!

_ No. _

“What?”

All the colour in the world seemed to drain right before Leon’s eyes as he fixated on Raihan’s eyes, desperately searching for any give in Raihan’s unbelievable statement, and finding none. 

There was only determination in the blueness of his dragon’s eyes, a stalwart sort of resolve that Leon had always seen in him since they first met. 

The same pair of eyes that told him that someday, he would become Champion. 

That someday, Raihan would defeat him. 

“Leon, don’t get me wrong.” Raihan sighed, reaching up to tuck a lock of Leon’s hair behind his ear tenderly. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t imagine waking up to a life where you’re not in it, and—”

“That’s… what I wanted.” Leon said shakily, surprised he could even say anything as grief seized him by his heart, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He dropped to the ground carelessly now, uncaring if glass shards were digging into his slacks or if the jostling movement caused them to slice his skin open. Raihan’s eyes widened in shock, as Leon gingerly dug into his pocket, pulling out the ring he’d intended to propose back with. 

“Oh, _ fuck._” Raihan swore, as realisation sank like knives into his gut, his own eyes welling up with tears. “Oh, Leon. Oh, I… oh, no.”

“I thought…” and it was like before, a year ago, when Leon poured his heart out to Raihan in a lonely locked changing room, clinging to him like his life depended on it. “I thought… we were on the same page.” He held the ring out to Raihan on his shaking palm, and he looked down at it blearily. 

Leon’s life had been a series of heartbreaks ever since his life’s greatest achievement. Heavy was the head that bore the crown that carried all of Galar’s hopes and dreams, and as a boy manipulated mercilessly since the tender age of 10, Leon had known no peace as the puppet of Galar’s richest, the most influential. 

His only consolation had been Raihan, the joy of battling, and the love he’d poured into his Pokémon. For ten long years, it had only been nothing but pain, nothing but hiding and fear and heartache, and when he’d finally relinquished his crown, when he finally broke Rose’s chains on him—

“Everything… was going perfectly.” He said, and there it was, the dam breaking as it had a year ago, when he shared in Raihan’s pain of loss for the first time in his life. Tears flooded Leon’s vision as the ring he’d meant for Raihan—a beautiful golden band with an amethyst the colour of his hair—swam in scattering rainbows in his eyes. “I’d been… so sure… _ everyone _had been so sure, th-that you’d—that…” He broke off into a sob, and he finally forced himself to look up to see that Raihan was openly staring at him, unmindful of his own tears rolling down his face. 

“_Lee._” His tone was wrought with pain, breathless with disbelief. Leon’s chest ached for him. 

“I thought… I really thought.” He sniffled, wiping at his eyes. “You taking so many pictures of me. That time at the Pokémon Nursery, when you started talking to me about starting a family.”

Raihan blinked at him, realisation slowly sinking in as he sat down, too, numb from shock as Leon’s hand wrapped around the ring in a tight, shaking squeeze. 

“I saw you looking at Sinnoh airfare rates. _ Sinnoh. _ A famous honeymoon destination.” He pushed through the tremble of his voice as his grief snapped in half—and another explosion of heat burst in his chest.

_ Anger. _

“You measured my ring size with a ribbon. With your _ teeth, _ for fuck’s sake, Raihan, how was I _ not _going to assume that you wanted to propose?” 

“I…” Raihan said faintly, reaching for Leon. “I was getting ready to say goodbye.” 

Leon’s lips pressed together in a thin line, jerking away from his hand as Raihan looked at him like a wounded animal. Leon felt irritation gnaw away at him as he got up onto his feet. He felt a sting in his knees, but he ignored it. 

“A bloody _ fantastic _ job you did of that.” He snarled, the drawl of the Postwick countryside bleeding back into his voice as his hand squeezed tightly around the ring. Pain shot up from his palm, but he didn’t care, glowering at Raihan as he slowly got up onto his feet. “Was that battle just now the final straw? Do you actually hate me, just like everyone that mattered to me seems to _ fucking feel?_”

Raihan jolted like he’d been slapped, and he looked at Leon, eyes wide. Leon met his gaze, met the utterly _ crushed _look in Raihan’s eyes, and he realised something new that day.

He’d never seen that look on him before. Never in the entirety of the time they shared together had Leon ever seen Raihan look like that. 

_ Defeated. _

Whenever Leon triumphed over him, there was nothing but determination, admiration and pride in Raihan’s eyes. Nothing ever came close to genuine hatred, not the way the challengers Leon defeated had before their little Champion today. 

It felt like staring at a completely different man, looking at the way Raihan looked when he felt truly, utterly defeated. Resigned to a fate he’d brought about himself, and Leon could never truly hate him, either.

Raihan’s heart had taken root in his own so deeply that if he burned it all down, there would be very little of him remaining. He couldn’t hate Raihan—and the broken look in his dragon’s eyes only made the crushing, bitter cocktail of resentment, anger and disappointment burn like the tears rolling down his own face. 

“Lee,” Raihan said quietly. “I had a dream.”

The storm in Leon’s heart died down long enough for the beacon of Raihan’s words to reach him, and he paused, looking at him confusedly as Raihan got up, also cut up and scratched by the glass they’d knelt on. Slowly, his dragon made his way over to him, and this time, Leon didn’t pull away, letting Raihan gingerly wrap his hand around his wrist, loosening his fist around the ring. 

“Do you remember? When we were children, camping together in the Wild Area while we watched the stars fall above our heads?”

Leon looked up at him, and at the stars beyond Raihan’s head, twinkling quietly above Hammerlocke Stadium, and felt his chest ache. 

“I said that my dream was to become Champion.” Raihan gently slid his fingers into Leon’s fist, pulling the ring out from his grip. “And that hasn’t changed.”

“I’m not Champion anymore, Raihan.” Leon said, and Raihan nodded, lifting his ring to inspect it in the dim light. “And you never asked, so I don’t think that ring’s yours.”

“You’re not Champion anymore, that’s true.” He replied, but put the ring on anyway. “It would have been nice, to become Champion after you, but tonight’s battle made me realise something.”

Leon frowned at him, and Raihan gave him a pained smile past his tears.

“I don’t think I’ll ever beat you.” He said, and Leon blinked at him in alarm. “Not the way I am now. I’ll never defeat you, even with our Pokémon switched, even without Dynamax. I’ve stagnated where I am, Lee. At this rate, I’ll never make my dream come true.”

“I…” Leon’s heart sank, and the storm of his anger abated as Raihan cupped his face in his hands. “Raihan…”

“All this time, these past ten years, I’ve been saying I’m improving by leaps and bounds. That’s probably true, but my strength cap has always been you.” He leaned in to kiss Leon gently, and he pressed their foreheads together. “People have been saying that if I moved to another region, I’d have become a Champion, but I always stayed here in Galar, for you.”

Leon thought about the chains that lay at his feet after Rose’s arrest, the ones he’d been bound with for ten years as Galar’s beloved Champion. If he’d followed them, he would have realised that they led onward into the darkness of his castle, into the dungeons, where he’d captured his very own dragon, chained to his heart, sworn to protect it. 

Realisation dawned on him. “You never left because—”

“I wanted to protect you.” Raihan said, “I could never leave you, knowing what Rose was doing to you.”

Now that Leon was free, it stands to reason that Raihan would be free, as well. 

“Now, I’m free to make that dream a reality, and for that, I have to leave.” He said, smiling sadly. “Remember five years ago back in Alola? Miss Cynthia in the Battle Tree?”

“Y-yeah?” Leon nodded. 

“I contacted her recently. She’s going to help me train in her manor at Sinnoh, and maybe let me have a Garchomp of my own.” Leon’s eyes widened at that, and Raihan nodded sheepishly. “That’s why I was looking at Sinnoh airfare rates. All the other things—I’d been doing them for a long time now. I’ve always loved seeing you with baby Pokémon. I never want to forget the way you feel against me.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I guess it’s easier for you to notice the little things after we’ve spent so much time apart. You had Macro Cosmos, I had the Gym Challenge season to prepare for.”

Leon nodded gingerly. “I… I still can’t believe it. Miss Cynthia…”

“Yeah.” Raihan chuckled. “It was after meeting her and her dragon when I started thinking about what I could be.” He explained. “I realised that I’d been neglecting my own dream, and that I’d lost sight of it in my need to keep you safe.” 

Leon’s expression fell. “It’s… my fault.” 

“No.” Raihan chuckled, shaking his head. “I know I stayed in Galar for you, Lee, but it wasn’t your fault I had to.” He met Leon’s gaze eagerly, and Leon’s heart fluttered in his chest. “None of this was our fault. I don’t know how many times I’ll have to tell you that until you believe me, but I want you to know that I’ll never get tired of telling you that I don’t blame you for anything.” 

He gestured at the stadium around them. 

“No one could have expected any of… _ this,_” He gestured between them. “Of this. Of us.”

Leon took a shaky breath. “Rai, I—I’m so sorry I got mad at you.”

“I don’t blame you.” Raihan sighed, smiling sadly. He reached down to take Leon’s hands, and squeezed them. “I’m sorry I led you on. I didn’t mean to.” They looked down at their joined hands, and Leon teared up at the way the amethyst on Raihan’s ring glinted sadly in the light. “I… didn’t feel like I had the right to.”

“The right to what?” Leon asked faintly. 

“To ask the same thing.” Raihan laughed sadly, and Leon’s head shot up to look at him in shock. “I guess… it just never occurred to me, that you’d want this commitment with me.”

“You’re a damn fool to think of that.” Leon sniffled, and the nostalgic sound of the Postwick drawl in his voice made a painful tenderness swell in Raihan’s chest. He leaned forward to kiss Leon’s forehead, sighing.

“I guess I was.” He murmured. “My answer is yes. It’s always been yes.”

He pulled away, and kissed the ring tenderly, looking Leon in the eye meaningfully. 

“You never asked me, but I think we both know that was going to be my answer anyway.” He smiled, and Leon smiled back up at him gingerly. “Let’s make it a promise.”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. 

“I’ll go to Sinnoh for a year, and I’ll become stronger. I’ll become Sinnoh’s Champion, and I’ll come back to you.” Raihan kissed his forehead, and cupped Leon’s face in his hands. “And I’ll challenge you to a Pokémon battle, and there’ll be no holding back.” 

“I wouldn’t want you to hold back, either.” Leon murmured. “I want to see how strong you’ve become.” He pressed a kiss to Raihan’s lips, swallowing his sigh of contentment as his boyfriend held him close. “I want you to beat me, when the time comes.”

“Is that an offer for the bedroom, too?” Raihan chuckled, and Leon finally laughed, batting at his arm lightly. “C’mon. You like being held down when I’m in rut. What’s a little spanking, babe?”

“If anything, _you’re _the one who needs the spanking.” Leon grumbled, but he was smiling as they pulled apart, looking at each other longingly. “Is that another promise for when you get back?”

“It can be.” Raihan winked, and Leon rolled his eyes as he picked up a lock of Leon’s hair, pressing it to his lips with a wistful sigh. “I’ll be right back to you in no time, promise and all.” He met Leon’s gaze, and his heart fluttered at the sight of Raihan’s determined eyes. “And when that time comes, I’ll ask you properly.”

“I know you will.” Leon smiled. “And you know what—you can’t be the only one with a promise to keep.”

Raihan raised an eyebrow at him. “What, that you’ll stay true to me or some bull like that?” Raihan snorted. “Lee, if you really didn’t love me, I would know.”

“Please. You don’t need to worry about that.” Leon scoffed. “What I want, then, is to make Galar safe for all Pokémon to live in.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked. “Wh—I don’t… follow.”

“I _ mean,_” Leon laughed. “We’ve seen how much more there is to Pokémon out there in the world, haven’t we?” He said, “Why can’t Galar have the same?” 

Raihan continued to stare at him.

“Why are there so many Pokémon that we don’t have here, but are everywhere else in the world? What even is a _ Pidgey, _ when we use Pidgetter all the time?” Leon continued to say, and he smiled sadly, thinking back to Lillie, and her brother’s Silvally. “People have been getting their partners quarantined at the airport because of Galar’s environmental laws, right? Have you ever wondered why?”

Raihan’s expression finally softened, and he shook his head fondly.

“Leave it to you and your questions again.” He chuckled.

“I’ve defied Rose like this before, and I’ll do it again.” Leon huffed. “Why can’t your family raise more dragons? What about the Alolan Exeggutor? We’ve never even met a _ Kantonian _ one!”

“Right.” Raihan nodded. “And at this rate, I can’t come back with my Garchomp to show you how much I’ve grown.”

“Exactly.” Leon nodded. “You won’t be able to keep your promise to me—unless I keep my promise to you.” He took Raihan’s hand and squeezed it. “Rai, I’m going to restore the National Pokédex to the Galar region in the year you’re gone.” 

Raihan’s eyes at him shimmered in wonder and pride. Love prickled the corners of them, and Raihan sniffled tenderly, nodding. “And I’ll bring back new baby dragons for us to cuddle.”

Leon nodded. “I’m sorry my reasons for improving Galar are pretty selfish.” He mumbled, and Raihan laughed, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Well, it’s a start, at least.” He said. “If there’s anyone who can do it, I know it’s you.”

“Thanks.” Leon replied gingerly. “I wanna believe… I can do that. It’d be nice… to meet more Pokémon.”

After all, his Charizard (and the little Champion’s baby Charmander) were both imports from Kanto, and both were the only ones of their kind in the entirety of the Galar region. He’d heard that they were rather commonplace in Kanto, but in Galar, his Red was the rarest specimen in the land. 

“It’s going to take a lot of work,” he said haltingly, and smiled at the memory of the Aether Foundation project files on his desk, which were lightly dusted with Alolan Vulpix Powder Snow and downy fluff. “But I think I know where to start looking for help.”

Raihan grinned at him. “That’s good.” 

They settled down with a sigh, and Leon gingerly bundled himself up in Raihan’s arms again. 

“You know…” He mumbled into Raihan’s chest. “For a moment, I thought you didn’t love me, after all.” 

“After all?” Raihan echoed, stroking Leon’s hair tenderly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just…” Leon squeezed Raihan tighter. “Sometimes, Rose is still in my head. Sometimes I can hear him, and I think to myself that maybe this is all just a dream.” Raihan’s smile faded, and he held Leon closer. “When you didn’t propose, I thought… this is it. I’m going to wake up now. None of this was real, after all. Rose was right, you never loved me—”

Raihan cut him off with a kiss. Leon stiffened up in his hold, but quickly relaxed, kissing Raihan back. They pulled apart for air, and Leon’s eyes widened at the sight of Raihan’s, thinned into furious, draconic slits. 

“If this wasn’t real, Leon, then I’d rather be dead.” He snarled, and Leon’s chest ached at the sincerity in his words. “Rose is gone. I’m right here, and I love you.” His fierce expression softened into a little smile, and Leon smiled back at him. “And, uh, you should _ really _see a therapist for this.” 

“Yeah, I should.” Leon sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. Raihan gave him a helpless little shrug, and he smiled at his boyfriend sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Raihan sighed. They stayed quiet for a long time, basking in each other’s presence, and then Raihan spoke again. “Man, I am _ not _looking forward to getting the League sorted out.”

“Hm?” Leon hummed, looking up at him, and Raihan gave him a sheepish grin. 

“I’m a Major League Gym Leader, Lee. And the last badge in the Gym Challenge.” He said. “I’m going to need a replacement.”

Leon’s eyes widened. “That’s right.” He breathed. “We’ll have to shuffle all the ranks up, hold the Gym Ranking Championship again…” he trailed off into low murmurs as he fell deep in thought, and Raihan smiled fondly, leaning down to kiss Leon again. The smaller man stopped mid-speech, eyes wide as Raihan pulled away from him, grinning. “Rai?”

“Chill out, Chairman.” Raihan chuckled. “We’ll figure this out together.”

He laced their fingers together, and Leon smiled slowly. 

“Together.” He nodded. 

Raihan grinned at him, and kissed Leon’s knuckles. “For now, let’s just go home. We’ve both had a long day.”

“Yeah.” Leon laughed tiredly. “Let’s… erm. Red’s fainted.”

“We’ll stop by the Pokémon Centre outside the castle.” Raihan pulled Darude’s Pokéball out of his pocket. “We still have to tuck the babies upstairs in. No doubt they’ve tired themselves out from all this excitement.”

Leon nodded, as Raihan released Darude, the two men smiling at Darude’s triumphant roar, striking a flashy pose in the air. 

“He got that from you.” Leon elbowed Raihan, who laughed, shrugging. 

“He’s your son after sunset.” He replied, and Leon rolled his eyes. “Darude, let’s go tuck the babies upstairs in.”

The Flygon nodded in understanding, landing on the ground and looking at them expectantly. The two made a move to head towards him, when they gasped at the sharp pain that shot up from their cut-up legs.

“Oh, shit!” Raihan swore, as Leon let out a loud, sharp, “_Fuck!_”

They clung onto each other dazedly while Darude tittered in worry, and they looked down at their knees, where they’d been scratched up by the glass. Leon and Raihan shared incredulous looks, before they burst out laughing, leaning against each other. Darude whined, squirming into the tiny space between them to be hugged, and the two trainers held on to him, still laughing. 

“Oh, Arceus.” Leon sighed. “We’re idiots. Absolute morons.”

“Yeah.” Raihan looked at the glass and blood on the ground and shook his head. “Damn. I’ll have that cleaned up tomorrow.”

“We’ll need to see Nurse Joy ourselves, too.” Leon winced, and smiled as Darude lowered himself closer to the ground for the two trainers to ride him. “Thank you, Darude.”

Raihan helped Leon climb onto the Pokémon, and then sat down behind him. He gently prodded at Darude’s side, and the Flygon nodded, gently taking off from the ground to head to the upstairs nursery. Raihan pushed the window open, and the two of them climbed in to find that the Goomies had all fallen asleep on top of each other, looking like a singular pile of purple goo. The Trapinches were also piled on top of each other, sound asleep, save for one little baby Trapinch, which waddled over to them delightedly as they climbed in. Darude cooed happily, climbing in after them, but with a gentle hush from Leon, he stayed quietly by the window. 

“Hey there, little guy.” Raihan greeted softly, picking the Trapinch up without so much as a wince, and Leon raised an eyebrow at him. Raihan gave his boyfriend a wink. “Can’t show them you’re hurt. They’ll get worried.”

“Oh.” Leon nodded slowly, watching as Raihan pressed a kiss to the Trapinch’s head. It cooed happily, and he smiled fondly. Raihan turned to look at him, and smiled. Leon blushed, and held his hands out at Raihan. “Can I hold it?”

“Of course.” Raihan gently handed the baby Pokémon to Leon, who gingerly held it in his arms. It wiggled its stubby little arms at him, and he laughed fondly, wiggling his finger at it and tickling its tummy to make it giggle delightedly. 

Raihan watched him with an openly fond look on his face, and Leon smiled back at him. 

“The other babies, Rai.” He said softly, and his boyfriend sighed, shaking his head fondly. Leon chuckled, watching him handle the four Goomies expertly, bundling two on each of his arms. “You’re gonna need a bath after this.” He declared, and Raihan shrugged, grinning. 

“I don’t mind, if I’ve got company.”

Leon laughed. “Fine, fine. We both need the bath, anyway.”

Raihan gave him a wink, and headed back into the connecting room to put the Pokémon back. Darude crooned at Leon, and he turned around, jumping slightly when the Trapinch cheered happily, reaching for the Flygon. Leon chuckled fondly as he approached Darude, who beamed at him, before lowering his head to nose at the Trapinch’s head, making it giggle. 

“That’s his baby.” Raihan said, and Leon turned to realise that Raihan had come back, carrying two Trapinches in his arms. The babies were protected from the goo on his arms with a towel, and Leon smiled at him.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Raihan smiled when Darude lit up at the two other Trapinches in his arms, and nosed gently—to not wake it, Leon realised—at one of them. “He fathered two of these little guys last year.” 

“Oh, that’s nice.” Leon nodded, smiling as Darude gave the Trapinches a loving lick to their cheeks. “He’s so sweet on them.”

“Yeah, we visit regularly. Gooms isn’t mature enough to make her own babies just yet, so the Goomies here are from the brood stock.” He gave Leon a little grin. “Darude actually came from Hammerlocke Castle, you know.”

“Oh? Really?” Leon blinked at the Flygon, who went back to being affectionate to the baby Pokémon in Leon’s arms. 

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, and he headed into the adjacent room to put the last two Trapinches back. When he came back to Leon, he smiled fondly and held his hands out at Leon for the baby Pokémon. “C’mon. Time to put the little guy to bed.”

“Goodnight, baby.” Leon cooed softly, kissing the Trapinch’s nose, and the baby Pokémon wiggled delightedly. Raihan laughed, and accepted the baby from Leon, rocking it gently and hushing it when it made a tiny sound of protest. 

“Good babies go to bed on time.” Raihan said softly, “Go to sleep, little Trapinch.”

It cooed softly, and shut its eyes slowly, snuggling into Raihan’s chest. The two men shared a warm smile with each other as Darude purred happily, and Raihan took the baby Pokémon into the back room with the other babies. Leon turned his attention to Darude, who was nosing at the window eagerly now, and he chuckled fondly, petting his neck to calm him down. He opened the window in time to see Raihan turning off the lights in the room, and the taller man gave him a wide grin. 

“Oh, you wanna head out the front?” He asked, and Leon gave him a toothy grin.

“C’mon, Rai. Come on the walk of shame with me.”

“Walk of shame.” Raihan chuckled, rolling his eyes as Leon nodded for Darude to head outside. The Flygon flew out the window, and Leon looked at Raihan expectantly as he turned the rest of the lights off. He came back to the window and took Leon’s hand in his, kissing it softly. “On three?”

“On one!” Leon cheered, and yanked Raihan out of the window. Both of them screamed—Raihan, out of shock and surprise, Leon in pain from the cuts on his legs—as they fell, and Darude shot out under them to catch them in time, huffing petulantly. Leon laughed into the crook of Raihan’s neck as they struggled to right themselves on the Flygon’s back as Darude flew them out of the stadium and through the lobby of Hammerlocke Castle. 

They passed by the lift to the power plant beneath them, and Raihan finally managed to maneuver himself and Leon into sitting properly just as they went outside. He shivered as the cold night air hit them, and Leon snuggled close against him to warm him up.

“_Ow, _fuck.” Raihan hissed, and Leon laughed sheepishly. “Legs.”

“That’s what we get for being so bloody dramatic.” Leon huffed, and Raihan laughed into his shoulder at that, nodding gingerly as he patted Darude’s neck. 

“D, put us down by the Pokémon Centre outside the castle. All of us need patching up.”

Darude nodded in understanding, and landed gently on the porch of the Pokémon Centre, much to the surprise of the people that had been standing outside it. 

“Chairman Leon!”

“Leader Raihan!”

Leon and Raihan straightened up, looking embarrassed at their current state of dress—disheveled, cut up, covered in sand, blood and drying tears. Leon gingerly straightened his jacket out, while Raihan pulled his jacket off completely, letting it hang over his shoulder. He put Darude back in his Pokéball, and the two of them shuffled towards the Pokémon Centre’s door.

“Weird, didn’t the Pidgetter reports say they were at Battle Tower?”

“Ooh, they must’ve snuck off!” 

Leon flushed at that, and he looked at Raihan, who gave him a sheepish little smile. He gingerly reached out for his hand, and Leon’s hand met it halfway, squeezing it reassuringly. They heard the clicking of cameras and the affectionate cooing of the crowd that had gathered around them, and Leon gave them a little grin. He jumped slightly when Raihan leaned down to whisper something into his ear.

“Lee, help me hide the ring for a minute.” He said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I’ll explain why later.”

Leon nodded, and wrapped his hand completely around Raihan’s, covering the ring up with his palm. More people behind them fawned at their display of affection as they headed into the Pokémon Centre. When the door shut behind them, they were met with a smaller, still just as excited crowd, and Nurse Joy gave them a sheepish smile from where she stood at the counter. They limped their way over to her, and her smile disappeared from her face to give way to alarm. 

“Oh, Chairman Leon! Leader Raihan!” She hurried out from behind the counter to meet them, supporting Leon alongside Raihan to help them to the counter. “What happened?”

“We had a battle and it got a little out of hand.” Leon laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek as he held out Red’s ball to her. “My Charizard’s fainted. Could you heal him up, please?” 

“My Flygon, too.” Raihan added, pulling Darude’s ball out of his pocket. “Sorry for the inconvenience, Nurse Joy.”

“It’s nothing at all,” She shook her head, taking the Pokéballs from the two men to put on a tray her Indeedee was carrying. “Indeedee, please take a look at Flygon and Charizard.”

She nodded in understanding, and marched away. Nurse Joy looked at the two men, and sighed exasperatedly. “I’ll come have a look at you.” She said, and gently led them into one of the examination rooms. “And you’ll tell me what happened.”

“Well, we, uh—we’d rather not. Erm.” Leon stammered. “We’d rather not talk about it.” Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow at him, and Raihan nodded.

“We—we’d rather… sort it out first. Presscon later.” He said, and Nurse Joy rolled her eyes.

“Come, now.” She tutted. “There _ is _such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality.” She winked at them, and Leon and Raihan’s eyes widened in realisation. “Now, from the top, while I take care of Chairman Leon first—he looks a little more cut up than you, Leader Raihan, and do be a dear make sure the door is locked, too.”

* * *

In the end, Leon and Raihan made it back to their flat in Wyndon at almost midnight. Scrubbed clean thanks to the Pokémon staff in the Pokémon Centre and dressed in donated hospital clothes that Leon pledged to return tenfold, they dropped themselves into bed, tangled in each other as exhaustion and sleepiness began to sink into their bones. 

“Hey…” Leon mumbled, as Raihan sleepily manhandled him into the little spoon, and he laughed slightly when he buried his face into his hair. “R-Rai, one more question… before I pass out.”

“Yeah?” Raihan mumbled. 

“Will you marry me?”

Raihan laughed at that, lacing his left hand with Leon’s, the ring on his finger glinting in the dim light streaming in from the window. He pressed a kiss to Leon’s hair and cuddled him tenderly. 

“Yeah.” Raihan replied. “I’d love to marry you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's an entire missing scene regarding cynthia that i never bothered to write. mayhaps i will explain it in later chapters. Who Knows i'm a terrible storyteller


	5. Facing Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Raihan has an announcement to make to all of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > leans into mic  
  
piers doesn't dynamax as a gym leader in protest of rose's ambitions based on his distrust of the man rather than in protest of dynamaxing in general. marnie uses dynamax and i think it's fair to assume that during the gym challenge so did piers. in this essay i w
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1221080337159090176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> (maybe read the thread if you wanna see a trajectory for this fic?) sometimes i think about piers pokemon swsh despite the fact he didn't quite blip my horny radar. he's ok i like him enough and he's a good brother to marnie. a good boy
> 
> anyway i sure fuckin hope y'all love the noble raihan thing because my dick's been hard since we first thought of it. oh my god that's fantastic. i love it. work it your grace
> 
> by the way, to everyone asking: i do not intend on exploring nor detailing what exactly is it that rose did to leon. everyone and their mother's done that, and i'd like to leave that to your imagination. sometimes omitting details sets the stage for the most horrifying backdrops. the important thing is that it's left leon with trauma, but he has the support from his family, his friends and his partner to get through it.

“Leon and Raihan went home at almost midnight last night, apparently.” 

The brunet hummed into their mug of hot chocolate, scrolling through their social media feed as they let Hop rest his legs on top of theirs. Sitting together on the new sofa in the Pokémon Research Lab had become a recent thing for them to be doing in the lazy mornings where Sonia had yet to show up to give Hop what to do, and the little Champion had yet to move into Wyndon, no matter how many times Hop asked them when it would happen. 

(Leon hadn’t told them to, and they understood why. They preferred to stay out here in Postwick, anyway, and Leon was happy to let them. Besides, riding a legendary Pokémon to work in Wyndon always made heads turn, and if that didn’t make the little Champion utterly pleased about themselves, then nothing else would.)

“Really.” They replied. “Guess we didn’t have to battle for _ that _long.” 

“I had a lot of fun.” Hop shrugged, “It's been a while since we battled.” He gave them a sweet smile, and the brunet resisted the urge to grip their chest as it seized up at the sight of it. “I’m surprised I can draw a huge crowd by myself.”

“You’re a Gym Challenge finalist, Hop. You got yourself your own fans, too.” They leaned forward to kiss his cheek, and they giggled when Hop spluttered in embarrassment, looking around fearfully. “Come off it! We’re fine! It’s not like us dating is a secret.”

“I know, I’m just…” Hop was blushing, and the brunette felt ready to keel over in joy. “It’s embarrassing…”

“Well, there’s a few more embarrassing things we can do, if you really wanna know…” the little Champion murmured, lacing their fingers together with Hop’s, and they burst out laughing when he began spluttering anew, flustered about holding their hand. 

“G-G-G-Gloria!” He squealed, just as the front door opened, a breathless Sonia standing there with wide eyes. “O-oh! Sonia! Hi!” He stammered, getting up, and the little Champion giggled behind their hand as the redhead approached them. 

“Hi, Sonia.” They greeted. 

“Hop.” She said faintly. “Victor.”

“What’s up?” Hop asked. The teens sobered up quickly, getting up from the sofa, and Sonia shook her head, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Sonia? Are you alright?”

“I just heard from Nessa about something very, very important.” She turned to look at the brunet. “Gloria, have you received mail from the Galar League today?”

“Haven’t checked. Hold on.” They said sternly, and looked down at their Rotom phone while Hop turned to look at his supervisor. 

“What’s going on?” He asked. “If this is about Lee’s Goomy, I promise I brought it back to their flat in Wyndon like he asked.”

“His what now?” Sonia asked, blinking in confusion, but the little Champion cleared their throat, catching their attention. “Vi?”

“There’s a board meeting today in about an hour.” They said gravely. “Something about… reshuffling the ranking. All the Gym Leaders and the Champion are required to attend.”

“Oh, what’s going on…” Sonia ran her hand through her short hair. “Nessa didn’t explain much to me, since we were in such a hurry to get to work on time this morning—”

Hop’s “Wait, what?” went unnoticed. 

“—That all she managed to tell me was that she had a meeting with all the Gym Leaders. Champ, do you think it’s about Raihan?”

“What about Raihan?” Hop’s head was spinning. “Wait. What’s going on?”

“Didn’t you find it odd, Hop?” The brunet asked softly. “If their engagement was successful, it’d be all over social media right now.”

“If not announced by that Raihan who can’t keep his mouth shut on SNS, then surely people who’ve seen them walking around last night with matching rings!” Sonia added. “And people _ knew _ to look, the hashtag was #1 trending region-wide last night!” She ruffled her hair in exasperation. “I knew it. Something happened… Raihan’s proposal went tits-up… now they’ve broken up, after ten long years…”

“Hey, calm down now,” Hop said haltingly. “Maybe they just wanted to keep it private for now. You know as well as I do that Raihan can actually keep his mouth shut online, and Lee’s a pretty private person. I wouldn’t be surprised if Galar only found out about him getting engaged on his _ wedding day!_”

The other two with him fell silent at that, and Sonia sighed sheepishly. 

“I guess you’re right.” She mumbled. 

“I know Lee better than anyone.” Hop huffed proudly. “I’m sure everything’s alright. Maybe Raihan is just taking time off the League to focus on their wedding. Goodness knows it’s going to be a nightmare handling all his relatives.”

“His relatives?” The little Champion echoed. 

“Raihan’s kind of nobility.” Sonia replied dismissively. 

“And we _ know _ how snobby royals are!” Hop scoffed, crossing his arms. The brunette stared at them in shock, and Hop shook his head. “Gloria, don’t you have a meeting to attend?”

“I—uh.” They said intelligently. “Raihan’s a _ royal?_”

“Victor.” Sonia tutted. “Out with you. Pick up a flying taxi or something, because Wyndon isn’t a short little walk away.”

“We’re talking about this later.” They pointed at the two scientists, and hurried towards the door, leaving their mug—one with Leon’s face on it , go figure—on the table before heading out. 

“Vi!” Hop called after them. “What Pokémon are you using?”

They heard a Pokéball deploying outside, and the cry of Eternatus in the air. Sonia burst out laughing, doubling over. 

“Oh, sure! Use the giant world-ending monster for the most mundane things, _ sure!_” Hop huffed, and twin sounds of Pokéballs deploying caught their attention. Sonia whirled around to see Zacian and Zamazenta nosing at her Yamper’s food bag again, and she jumped. 

“Hop! The dogs!”

“Argh, no!” Hop leapt off the couch with a shout. “For a pair of mythical heroes, you two sure don’t act like one!”

* * *

“Anyone know what this is about?” 

Marnie jumped slightly, looking up from her Rotom phone to see Bede approaching her, looking worse for wear. He had bags under his eyes, and her expression on him softened. She pulled out a piece of candy from her pocket, and held it out for the boy to take. 

“No one’s got a clue.” She replied, smiling a little when Bede gingerly took the proffered sweet and promptly popped it into his mouth. Marnie cleared her throat gingerly, and tried not to laugh as Bede spat it out, wrapper and all, into his hand. “That’s on you, mate.”

“Haven’t slept since finals.” The blond grumbled. “Cut me some slack.”

“Oh, Bede! How’s Miss Opal?” 

The two teens turned to see Milo approaching them, his usual kind smile on his face, and he stood next to Bede as they all waited for the Macro Cosmos lift to come down for them. 

“She’s stable.” Bede replied. “Her granddaughter’s currently seeing to her while I attend this meeting.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Milo nodded. “Jade’s a nice girl. She’s studying to be a nurse, right?”

“She’ll finish by next month.” Bede mumbled, finally unwrapping the sweet and popping it back into his mouth. 

“That’s good.” Milo nodded. 

“You know, it’s quite sweet.” Marnie said, and Bede cocked his head at her. “You, being there whenever you can. You’ll have more time now that the Gym Challenge season’s over, though.”

“We’re not having any trips for a while, after all.” Milo chuckled fondly. “Leon’s reparation efforts aren’t even done yet… though, I suppose it’s not his fault those strange fellows tried to Dynamax Pokémon a few months back…”

“All I care about is that they’re in jail.” Bede huffed. “My Hatterene’s Hattrem was hurt pretty badly, and she was _ not _ happy about it for _ ages._”

Marnie nodded sagely. “I understand how you’re feelin’.” They all looked up at the ding of the lift’s arrival, and Milo gently bundled the two teens into it, before stepping in after them. He pressed the button to shut the doors, when Marnie saw Kabu heading towards them. “Oh, wait a minute. Kabu’s coming.”

“Oh, alright.” Milo nodded, holding the door open to let the man jog into the lift with a grateful nod. “Not in the gym uniform today, Mr. Kabu?”

“No,” the man shook his head, and looked over at the two teens standing in the back of the lift, looking up at him in surprise. “What’re you two looking so surprised about? You’ve seen me out of my gym uniform before.”

“It’s just…” Bede began, and he looked at Marnie. The girl cleared her throat awkwardly. 

“We’re surprised you weren’t in your uniform, considering this is a League meeting.” She said. Kabu raised an eyebrow at their clothes, and she turned pink. “We just… well, _ I _thought you were the type.”

Kabu shook his head, chuckling fondly. “Ah, children…” Milo chuckled, too, and the man gave him a friendly nod. “I was out sorting out some documents this morning. My nephew is immigrating from Alola.”

“Oh, your nephew?” Milo lit up. “You _ did _mention he’d be joining the minor league next year…”

“Yes.” Kabu nodded. “Though I can’t help but feel this is a premonition of sorts.”

Milo frowned. “Well, let’s hope it’ll turn out alright.” He patted Kabu’s shoulder. The other man nodded, and they all patiently waited for the lift to ding again, announcing their arrival. Milo let Kabu, Bede and Marnie out before he stepped out, and together they all headed to the conference room. Marnie peered in to see that most of the invited people had already arrived—Nessa, chatting amicably with Bea, Allister gingerly playing a game on his Rotom phone. Gordie was off to the side by the window, on the phone with Melony, presumably, who had said in advance that she would be flying out of Galar before the closing ceremony the day before. 

Raihan was sitting near the head of the table, looking down at his phone with a crease on his brow, and Marnie frowned thoughtfully at the sight of him. She’d heard from the little Champion that there was supposedly a proposal from the man yesterday, but she’d seen neither hair nor hide of that information, even asking Piers about it while he was on tour in Unova. 

Marnie peered at Raihan’s hands. 

“Left hand in jacket pocket.” She murmured, and Bede cocked his head at her. She shook her head to reassure him, and sat down next to Raihan. Bede sat across her, as Milo joined Nessa and Bea’s conversation amicably. “Hello, Raihan.”

“Hey.” Raihan greeted casually, putting his phone down with a nervous little smile, and Marnie cocked her head at him. He shook his head, running his hand through his dreads, and she leaned back in her seat to watch him. “Sorry. Is there something on my face?”

“No.” she replied, but offered no explanation. He sighed deeply, and turned back to his phone, frowning. “Is something wrong, Raihan?” She asked, after a long moment of him frowning at his phone, and he shook his head, laughing gingerly. 

“I, uh. No. I’m fine.” He replied, and he jumped—truly _ jumped—_when Leon strode into the room, also looking a little worse for wear, his assistant walking a few paces behind him, looking just about as confused and worried as Marnie felt. Marnie frowned slightly as the room went quiet, and Leon made his way to the head of the conference table, looking over the group of Gym Leaders in the room. His assistant stood a little ways away behind him in her own little corner of the room.

“Where’s the Champion?” He asked, and Marnie and Bede shared confused looks.

“They’re, uh. On their way.” Raihan said gingerly, and they all looked at him as he scrolled through his social media timeline. He gave them all a withering smile, and jerked his head at the window. “They just arrived in Wyndon. You might want to look out the window.”

Leon looked at his boyfriend with narrowed, confused eyes, but turned to the window alongside everyone else—

His eyes widened to see Eternatus flying towards them, and the little Champion on its back, waving at them. Instinctively, Leon jerked back, away from the window as Raihan shot to his feet, throwing the window open as his phone rang. He answered it with a little growl, shaking his head exasperatedly as he looked at Leon, who had moved back so far that his back was pressed against the wall.

“Vic, I already know—I’ll get the window open for you, just a sec—” He turned to look at his fellow Leaders, and Milo was quick to catch on. The redhead gave Raihan a nod as he headed to the windows, and Raihan sighed in relief as he headed to the back of the room to pull Leon into his arms, bracing himself for anything that could have possibly triggered him. 

Milo opened two windows, already used to Raihan and his stunts with Darude, but he wasn’t sure if it was enough for the little Champion and their newest friend. 

He didn’t have much to worry about, though, as the brunet jumped off Eternatus’s back and through the window, reaching out for him with a wide smile on their face. Milo couldn’t help but smile back, catching them in his arms easily as they put Eternatus back into its Pokéball. He spun them around, laughing brightly as the tense mood evaporated from the air, and soon the whole room was smiling again, as Milo put the brunette down.

“Sorry, I was all the way in Wedgehurst when I saw the notice.” They said, straightening their clothes out. “There were no taxis in service yet, and I didn’t have immediate access to a PC…” they looked over at Leon and Raihan bundled in the corner of the room, and the joyful mood immediately dampened. 

“Oh, no.” They said faintly. “Leon, I—I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” Leon said quietly, shaking his head, but his white-knuckled grip on Raihan’s hand said otherwise. He pulled away from his boyfriend shakily, and made his way to the head of the table. “I’m truly sorry for such a sudden notice for everyone, especially the day after the Gym Challenge closing ceremony, but there’s something important we need to discuss.”

Gingerly, everyone made their way to their seats, the Champion sheepishly sitting next to Leon and too ashamed to meet his gaze. Raihan looked at them witheringly from across them, but Bede put his hand on their knee, squeezing gently.

They looked up at him, wide-eyed in surprise, but he refused to meet their gaze, a whisper of pink on his cheeks. They smiled at that weakly, and straightened up. 

“So, what is this meeting about?” Kabu asked, pouring himself a glass of water from the bottle on the table for each of them, and Leon swallowed nervously. The little Champion watched Raihan stiffen up, and their expression fell.

“Raihan?” They murmured quietly, meeting his gaze, and he gave them a withering smile.

“This meeting is regarding next season’s Gym Challenge.” Leon said, and turned to look at Raihan. “Raihan has an announcement to make to all of us.” 

The little Champion’s heart shot to their throat. 

“_No._” They said, shock in their voice as Raihan stood up. “Raihan?”

He gave them a weak little smile, before turning to look at the rest of the table.

“Next year, I will be taking a leave from my duty as the Dragon-type Gym Leader for the following Gym Challenge season.” He said, and the table stared at him in stunned silence. “Within that time that I’ll be gone, I want to leave Hammerlocke Castle to one of you to use as your Gym Challenge stadium.” 

“Raihan, you _ said!_” The Champion shot up to their feet, pointing at him. “You—you _ said—_”

“Victor,” Raihan sighed. “I told you. Anything could happen.” He looked at Leon, who gave him a supportive little smile. “And it happened. And I’m sorry, but this is how things are going to be.”

The brunet frowned, but Bede wrapped his hand around their wrist. They looked down at him exasperatedly, but he shook his head. 

“Hear him out.” He said, and gently pulled them down to sit. Raihan gave him a withering smile. 

“Wait,” Gordie said haltingly. “You—you’re _ leaving? You, _ His Grace, Duke Raihan of _ Hammerlocke?_”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, grinning slightly at the whole title Gordie dropped to tease him. “For a year.”

“_Why?_” Nessa shot to her feet. “That—that doesn’t _ make sense! _ You just got _ engaged, _ right? Why are you _ leaving?_”

“Nessa.” Leon said sternly, and she whirled around to look at him, eyes wild. “There is no engagement.”

“_No engagement?_” it was Bea’s turn to have an outburst, and when everyone turned to look at her, her cheeks darkened in embarrassment, and she sank back in her seat. “I just… I thought…”

“The entirety of _ Galar _thought!” Nessa added. “Gloria, did you know something about this?”

“I…” The brunet looked down at their hands. “I knew.” They said, and Leon looked at them knowingly. “About… Raihan’s plans to leave.” 

“Wh…” Milo gently pulled Nessa back down to her seat as she gaped at them. “What?”

“The lil’ Champ was the first person I confided in about that plan.” Raihan said. “And then Leon, last night.”

“I gave him my blessing.” Leon said, nodding. “He’s to leave in a month.”

“What happens to the Gym Challenge?” Kabu asked calmly, and Nessa looked at him witheringly as he took a sip from his glass of water. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she huffed petulantly, crossing her arms as she turned away from him. “Raihan is the last badge before the Finals. It won’t be easy to replace Hammerlocke Stadium and the Dragon-type Challenge. Hammerlocke Stadium is practically Gym Challenge tradition at this point. Excluding it from the Challenge would be sacrilege to both Galar and our fans abroad.”

“Yes.” Leon nodded gratefully, and Kabu gave him a little smile. Leon smiled back at him gingerly, and continued. “That is why we will have to hold our rank placement matches again.” 

Allister sat up a little straighter. “But we just had them two years ago… they should still be good for another four years, right?” 

“And to hold them on such short notice?” Bede scowled, crossing his arms.

“Actually,” Raihan raised his hand, “I was thinking that the current Gym Leaders don’t have to participate. Only that we re-rank the Minor League gyms to replace what we’ve lost in the Major League.”

“Oh, I get it.” Marnie nodded, and she nodded at the little Champion. “That was how Spikemuth squirrelled into the Major League, after all.” 

“Yes, exactly.” Leon nodded. “The Minor League Gym Leaders are all in Galar right now, right?” 

“The Electric-type Gym Leader is arriving in the coming month.” Kabu said, and Gordie cocked his head at him.

“Thought he retired last season.” He said, and Kabu shook his head.

“My nephew is replacing him.” He replied, “I’m sure the other Minor League Gym Leaders have also reshuffled since the last time Minor League rankings were held.” 

“Then I think we’ll have a full attendance this year.” Raihan grinned. Marnie raised her hand, and he cocked her head at her. “Marnie?”

“If a Minor League gym will enter the Major League temporarily next year, what happens to Hammerlocke?” She asked. 

“Actually,” Leon said haltingly, and Marnie cocked her head at him. “The ranking will shift up to fill the void Raihan left. As the Minor League replacement joins the Major League next season, everyone will move up a rank.” He gave her a little smile, and Marnie’s eyes widened. “For example, you’ll be bumped up to first.”

“Oh.” She said quietly, and she jumped when Raihan began to clap quietly. The table grew lively with a light smattering of applause, and Marnie’s cheeks turned pink as she turned to look at the Champion, who beamed at her. “I… I see.”

“It was the first thing I considered when I thought about leaving.” Raihan said, and the table went quiet. “I talked to Piers about it, too. And we had a long conversation about what he wanted for Spikemuth—and you.”

Marnie blinked at him. 

“As Duke of Hammerlocke, I’m offering you and the residents of Spikemuth lodging in Hammerlocke Castle while renovations are ongoing there.” He said, and Marnie’s eyes widened. Raihan turned to look at Leon, who nodded. 

“Piers had been talking about it for a long time, since we’ve known each other.” He said. “He wanted to make the place livelier again, and now as Chairman of Macro Cosmos, I can help that dream come true.” He gave Marnie a kind smile. “Of course, I would still need your consent, but—”

“Yes.” Marnie said quickly, and the table turned to look at her. “I…” She deflated somewhat, turning a darker shade of pink, but she persevered. “I’ve always wanted to see Piers work with Dynamax.” She mumbled. “I’ve… I’m still trying to perfect Dynamax, myself. I want Spikemuth to see Dynamax without having to travel out of it, and—” She paused. “I’m… getting ahead of myself. There’s no Power Spot in Spikemuth.”

“Well, we can _ make _one.” Leon said, and looked at the little Champion. “Right, Gloria?”

“Oh.” They breathed. “That’s—that’s right. We have Eternatus!” They lit up, and turned to Marnie. “It’s possible, it’s possible! Grimmsnarl can finally Gigantamax at home!”

“Oh,” Marnie’s eyes welled up with tears. “I… I dunno what ta’ say.”

“You can start by saying yes.” Bede scoffed, but he was definitely holding back his smile. Marnie giggled at that, and he rolled his eyes. “Heaven knows everyone’s wanted to see you and Piers scaring the pants off Gym Challengers with Dynamax!”

Marnie laughed, nodding as she, too, wiped at her eyes. “Th-then I accept, Mr. Chairman.” She said, turning back to look at Leon, and then at Raihan. “A-an’ you too, Raihan. Thank you.”

The two men smiled at her, and Leon turned to the rest of the table. “Do we have an agreement, Leaders?” He asked, getting up from his seat with all the grace of a king facing his court. “Leader Raihan will take his leave of this coming season, and Leader Marnie will temporarily inherit Hammerlocke Stadium. A reshuffling of Minor League ranks will fill the void Raihan left.”

“Sounds good to me.” Gordie grinned. 

Bea nodded. “I’m in agreement.”

“Me… too.” Allister waved his sleeve. 

“No objections here.” Milo smiled. 

“Yeah, I’m okay with it too.” Nessa sighed. 

“As am I.” Bede huffed.

“I am in agreement.” Kabu nodded. “Now, the next question—if Raihan returns—”

“_When _he returns.” The Champion said, and Raihan grinned at them. 

“When I return.” He nodded, and Kabu smiled fondly.

“Very well. When Raihan returns, how will he be welcomed?”

“He’ll fight for his spot again, as before.” Leon said as he sat down again, and Raihan grinned at him. “To win his ranking back, he has to face the placement rank matches—defeat his replacements. Reclaim his castle.”

“If that is what you want, Chairman.” Raihan bowed his head, and Leon chuckled softly. He slid his hand into Leon’s under the table, and a shy little smile graced his boyfriend’s lips. 

“It’s League regulation, asshole.” He said, and the table burst into laughter. Raihan laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, but unbridled affection shone in his eyes as he looked at no one but Leon. Leon’s cheeks darkened, and he turned back to the table. “Right. This afternoon, we’ll be holding a presscon to make the announcement, to provide enough time for the Gym Leaders to prepare.” 

“Wait a minute,” Milo said, raising his hand. “If the ranking tournament is in a month, Mr. Kabu, what about your nephew?”

“I trust that he can handle it.” Kabu said simply, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat. “All I ask is that he’ll make it in time.”

“Of course.” Leon replied. “Any more questions?”

The table stayed quiet, and he nodded. “Then we’re adjourned for the day.” 

People got up from their seats, amicably bringing their bottles of water along as they left, and the little Champion watched as Raihan and Leon shared a quiet look between them. Marnie got up from her seat to head over to their side, giving them a sheepish little smile as Bede grinned up at her. 

“Number one.” He jerked his head at her. “Congratulations.”

The Champion let the two of them have a quiet conversation between them as Raihan and Leon leaned closer to each other, talking in hushed tones. They frowned, and got up from their seat, striding over to the two men, who fell quiet as they approached. 

“Hey, Gloria.” Leon smiled, and they gave him a strained little smile as they sat themselves down at the table with Raihan’s help. “What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to say sorry for how I arrived today. Didn’t think you’d already be here when I brought Eternatus out.”

“It’s okay.” Leon shook his head. “I’m recovering, and it wasn’t Eternatus’s fault. How is it, by the way? It looks happier now.”

“Yeah, I…” The brunette rubbed their arm, and laughed softly. “I take it out camping sometimes with Hop and the dogs.” They said. “They’re getting along pretty well. I think it likes Hop’s Dubwool a lot. They’re best friends, now.”

“That’s good.” Leon nodded thoughtfully, and smiled fondly. “I hope we can ask for its help putting a Power Spot in Spikemuth without hurting it too much.” 

“I think I know how.” They hummed. “It sheds, like, _ a lot._”

“It _ sheds?_” Leon blinked at them, and Raihan hummed.

“Makes sense.” He said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “It’s a dragon, isn’t it? Normally they shed a lot. I’ve donated a lot of Darude’s skins to Hammerlocke U’s clothing tech department.” He poked Leon’s nose. “Don’t you have the same problem with Red?”

“I-I do, actually.” Leon nodded.

“Yeah.” The Champion smiled. “So we’ve had _ so many _ Wishing Stars just stocked up in the Research Lab. I was thinking… maybe we could use those, instead.” 

“It’s worth a shot.” Leon beamed, and the brunet nodded gingerly. He sobered up, and gave them a little smile. “You’re disappointed, aren’t you?” He asked, and pink crossed their cheeks.

“I just—I thought…” They stammered. “I don’t know what to tell Hop.” 

“Well, actually.” Raihan lifted his left hand, and the Champion’s eyes widened when he saw the golden band on his ring finger. He turned his hand over, palm-up, to show them that he’d been hiding the amethyst gem on the top, and they looked up at Leon and Raihan, teary-eyed. “You can keep a secret, right, kid?” He grinned, ruffling their hair, and they nodded gingerly. 

“But… Hop.” They said quietly, looking at Leon. “And—and Sonia. Your mum?”

“We’re coming home to Postwick before Raihan leaves for Sinnoh.” Leon said, “We’ll tell them then.” 

“O-okay.” They mumbled, smiling weakly. “I’m just—wow. I’m glad it actually happened.”

“Yeah, well, we’d like to keep it a secret for now.” Raihan said. “I hope you understand.”

“Yeah.” They said, even if they didn’t. “Congratulations.” 

“Thanks.” They beamed at them. “You better get going for the day. We’ll let you know when the presscon is, and where.” 

“Right.” The little Champion nodded. “I’ll be in the city.” 

“Thank you.” Leon smiled, and helped them down from the table. “It looks like Marnie and Bede want to spend the day with you, so I suggest you kill time with them for now.” 

The brunet nodded, and hurried away to meet with the other two teens, joining their conversation before they, too, strode out of the meeting room. Leon heaved a tired sigh, and turned to look at his assistant, who was pointedly looking away from them, finishing off their meeting’s minutes on a tablet her Growlithe was holding up for her. 

“Ricki?” Leon asked, and she jumped, turning to look at him. 

“Y-yes, sir?” She asked.

“Would it be alright if you could arrange a presscon at the Wyndon Stadium auditorium at 3 in the afternoon?” He said, and she nodded hurriedly. “Thank you.”

Raihan slumped forward to rest his chin on Leon’s shoulder, and Ricki’s eyes softened on them. 

“I’ll head out and do that right now, actually.” She said. “I’ll lock the door behind me.”

“Thank you.” Leon sighed, and when Ricki and her Growlithe left, the door clicked shut behind her, and he and Raihan fell quiet. It was a long while before anyone spoke, and Leon simply basked in Raihan’s presence with him. “Rai?” He asked, and chuckled softly when Raihan growled softly, pulling him into his lap to cuddle him the way Red did with the Pokédolls he never grew out of. Leon shut his eyes contentedly, hugging Raihan back as he buried his face in the crook of Leon’s neck, deeply breathing in his scent. 

“That went well.” He mumbled, and Leon chuckled.

“Yeah. I’m honestly surprised.” He replied. “I thought someone would get angry.”

“Well, Nessa.” Raihan pouted. “But that’s always what she’s like.” 

“She’s just worried about you.” Leon reasoned, and Raihan nodded gingerly. “Now all we got to worry about is the rest of Galar.”

“I don’t think they have much of a choice in that matter, anyway.” Raihan laughed, pulling away from Leon to cup his cheek in his hand. “Can you take the day off, Lee?” He asked gingerly, and Leon paused.

He thought of all the meetings he still had to attend. The papers he had to look over, the projects he had to approve, the concerns he had to address.

He looked at Raihan, at those ice blue eyes and his warm, large hands that he always held in his. He thought about how he was going to lose him for a whole year, for the first time in his life, and he teared up. 

“Yeah, okay.” He said quietly, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to Raihan’s lips. “I’ll spend as much time with you as I can before you go.”

“I sure fuckin’ _ hope _you will.” Raihan laughed against his lips, but he could feel him trembling with emotion, too, and he let Raihan pull him closer to kiss him deeply. 

They parted for air, looking into each other’s eyes, and Raihan gently brushed the backs of his fingers against Leon’s cheek. 

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too.” Leon murmured, and took Raihan’s hand, squeezing gently. “So let’s make the most of our time now, while we still can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you imagine. "His Grace, Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke". oh my god im so horny.


	6. Bold Declarations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You deserve a Champion, and nothing less. I love you, Leon, and someday I will be worthy of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > my motivation for improving my craft is so that when i say "i want raihan to go hogwild at a presscon without letting the meowth out of the bag that he's engaged" i can actually pull it off
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1222707341012824064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> raihan goes hogwild at a presscon, the chapter
> 
> god this fic is moving so fucking slowly because literally all i'm doing is worldbuilding klsjdlskjd there isn't even an obvious conflict yet im just an asshole!!!!!! jesus. like, ~29k words in and somehow raihan hasn't left yet? goddamn (slaps fic) this fic can fit in so many blueballs!

“This feels a little naughty,” Leon laughed softly against Raihan’s lips as he let his fiancé press him into the wall of their flat, humming happily as Raihan swallowed the rest of his sentence with a ravenous kiss. “_Mm! _Rai—mmn…” Leon tried to pull away to speak, but Raihan kissed him again, pressing him even harder into the wall, draconic strength letting Raihan lift Leon off his feet. 

Leon wrapped his arms around the back of Raihan’s neck, tangling his fingers in his dreadlocks as Raihan slipped his tongue into his mouth. He shivered pleasantly, letting him taste and poke around as he liked, the slow, sensual slide of their tongues together starting a low, burning heat in his belly. They parted for air, and Raihan nuzzled Leon tenderly, whining softly as he looked into Leon’s eyes. 

Leon cupped Raihan’s cheek in his hand. “Naughty thing. Sneaking me away from work for sex.”

Raihan growled, his eyes thinning into slits, and Leon dimly wondered if Raihan’s rut came early. He bared his fangs at Leon, who remained nonplussed as he scratched under Raihan’s chin tenderly. His dragon growled softly, but leaned into Leon’s touch. 

“Did your rut come early?” He asked. It wasn’t unheard of—case in point, the first time they had sex in Leon’s office—but he was a little surprised, nonetheless. 

“No,” Raihan replied. “I’m pretty cognizant right now.”

“Then what’s all this?”

Raihan’s stare bore into Leon’s intensely, and the smaller man shivered pleasantly. 

“I just… thought about how if I left, I won’t be able to protect you.” He said softly, and Leon’s chest ached for him. He chuckled fondly, leaning forward to kiss his dragon tenderly, and pulled away when Raihan tried to deepen their kiss. “Lee…”

“Raihan. I don’t need you hovering over me all the time.” Leon said, “I promise I can take care of myself.”

“I…” Raihan’s hands balled into fists in Leon’s coat, and he hugged his fiancé tightly, burying his face in Leon’s chest. “I know.” He mumbled, and the two of them sank to the ground, Leon gently petting Raihan like he would his Pokémon when they were upset. “It's just—just this morning. When the lil’ Champ brought Eternatus to work, you nearly had a panic attack. I keep thinking about how I won’t be able to hold you through them like I have this past year.”

“I’m getting better.” Leon murmured. “I’ve got Red. My whole team. I won’t be alone.”

Raihan said nothing, still clinging to him. 

“C’mon, Rai.” Leon chuckled fondly. “You had a dream. You were so brave to go after it, and I’m proud of you that you never lost sight of it after all these years. I want you to have this just as much as you do.” He pulled away from Raihan’s hold to lift his face, looking into Raihan’s eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that.”

“Get real.” Raihan sniffed, sitting up straight, and Leon’s smile softened on him. “I’m—I’m not. I guess I’m just… worried.” He peered at Leon gingerly. “I’ve never missed you.”

“Neither have I,” Leon said. “We’ve always been together. Maybe this time we need time apart.”

“I guess.” Raihan laughed sadly. He laced their fingers together, and Leon smiled. They remained quiet for a long while, simply enjoying each other’s company, when the dragon laughed sheepishly. 

“Babe,” he said, “Can we still have sex, though?”

Leon burst out laughing at that, burying his face into the crook of Raihan’s neck, and his fiancé gave him a dumb, wide grin.

“Is that a yes?” He asked eagerly, and Leon was sure that if Raihan had a tail, it would be wagging.

“Yeah,” Leon chuckled, pulling Raihan in for a kiss. “But let’s make it quick, okay? We’ve got a press con in…” he spared a glance at their wall clock, and smiled against Raihan’s lips. “About five hours. And I want to have lunch and cleanup out of the wa—_Raihan!_”

He burst out laughing as his partner picked him up into a bridal carry with ease, clinging to him happily as Raihan practically threw him at their bed. 

“Boots!” He giggled, “Raihan, boots!”

“I wanna keep them on, babe.” Raihan purred, leaning over Leon as he straddled him, rolling his hips against his, and the smaller man shuddered helplessly underneath him. “Do you know what seeing you in these high heels does to me?” 

Leon did. Quite intimately. 

“No,” he said, grinning as Raihan’s hands wrapped around his ankles tightly. “Show me.”

* * *

The little Champion never got used to the feeling of being in press conferences. From the moment they became Champion up to now, they knew they’d been doing so many of them, but they knew they would never get used to the attention. 

They peered at the two chairs next to them, and thought of Leon. Knowing him, he was likely the same as they were, and eventually, they felt like they would end up like him. 

Used to the attention, the work, anyway. The rest of the trauma, not exactly, and the little Champion was grateful for that. 

There was already a more than modest crowd of journalists, bloggers and cameras pointed at them as they waited patiently on their seat. They ended up changing into their Champion uniform before showing up, thanks to Bede and Marnie’s advice to them, and they gingerly thumbed at the edge of the black shirt, scanning the crowd for any indication that Raihan or Leon had finally arrived.

It didn’t take them long to turn to their phone to whine about waiting for Raihan and Leon to Hop via text, and all the support they got from him was a mildly blurry selfie of him cuddling with Sonia’s Yamper in the research lab, the TV behind them, ready to watch the press conference. They felt a little guilty not telling Hop what it was about, but their boyfriend seemed content enough to wait for the press conference, not even pressing the little Champion for details. 

The sound of excited murmurs caught their attention, and they raised their head to see Leon stride confidently on stage, smiling at them kindly. He was in his signature red suit, though his cravat was missing, replaced instead with a deep red necktie with an Eldredge knot. Raihan followed after him in a deep blue three-piece suit, his black shirt open three buttons down to show off a triplet of gold chains on his collarbone. His headband was missing, and the little Champion could hear the excited tittering of the people in the crowd at Raihan’s stunning look.

They resisted the urge to roll their eyes, and instead got up to meet them, gesturing at the seats that were left empty for them. Leon gave them a friendly nod, and laughed softly when Raihan made a show of pulling out his seat for him, gesturing for Leon to sit down.

“Maybe you’re such a damn showoff.” The brunet mumbled, as Leon took his seat, flushing as Raihan pushed his seat in for him and all. 

“It’s all in the showmanship, sweetheart.” He leered at them, and gestured at their seat. “Take a seat.”

“You asshole.” Leon laughed into his hand as Raihan sat himself between Leon and the brunet, and the little Champion huffed petulantly, dropping themselves into their seat. Leon gave them an apologetic little smile. “Excuse my misbehaving dragon, Victor. He’s been cranky since this morning.”

“Probably hasn’t shed yet.” They replied, and Raihan scowled at them. They blew him a raspberry, and the crowd laughed along with Leon at them. The chairman shook his head fondly, and waved down his fiancé and the little Champion. He turned his attention to the crowd of journalists, and gave them all a kind smile. 

“Thank you very much for being here.” He said, and the crowd went quiet, intently listening to him speak. “First of all, I would like to apologise for such a hurried press conference.”

There was a smattering of ‘it’s fine, Leon!’ and other little sentiments from the crowd that loved him since he was Champion, and Leon’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He laughed elegantly behind his hand, and he nodded. 

“Thank you, thank you.” He said. “Now, we are calling this press conference to make two announcements. One, will be by me, and the other, by Leader Raihan.” He gestured at himself, and then at Raihan, who gave the crowd an elegant nod. They tittered excitedly among themselves as more people joined—bystanders that got in to watch the new League Chairman make one of his first few public statements. 

“Firstly, my announcement.” Leon cleared his throat. “We have scheduled for the Minor League to hold a rank placement tournament in the coming month or so. Though details have yet to be fully polished, the ranking tournament will be as per usual with a bracket system, and the venue will be at Wyndon Stadium.”

The crowd tittered with eager anticipation. 

“The top ranking Minor League Gym Leader will be temporarily promoted to Major League in the following Gym Challenge season.”

The murmurs grew louder in excitement, and hands already shot up into the air. 

“Questions later, please.” Leon said mildly, and the hands went back down. He nodded in satisfaction, and continued. “Therefore, we would like to call on all of the Minor League Gym Leaders to prepare their teams to represent themselves in the ranked championship. You have six weeks to prepare. Please do your best.”

He gave the crowd a polite bow. 

“Following the temporary one-season promotion of the winning Gym Leader, their Pokémon Type will be included in next season’s League Medallion.” Leon looked at his fiancé nervously, and Raihan nodded. “This will be as a replacement, as we will be removing the Dragon-type Gym from next season’s Gym Challenge.”

There was an outburst of alarm at his announcement, and Leon fought the wince that threatened to show on his face. Raihan took a shaky breath. 

“To clarify the details of this decision, I will give the floor to Leader Raihan.” He nodded at Raihan, who gave him a withering smile. Leon squeezed his hand under the table, and the little Champion looked nervously at him, before reaching for Raihan’s hand, too, to hold it in support. The dragon looked at the brunet in surprise, but his expression softened at them, and he nodded. 

“Thanks, kid.” He murmured to them, and the little Champion smile down at the table. He squeezed his fiancé’s hand, and then the brunette’s, and leaned closer to the microphone. He made a show of clearing his throat, earning him little chuckles from the crowd, and he gave them a wink. 

“Hey.”

The chuckling grew into fond laughter, and Leon and the little Champion watched in awe at how easily Raihan handled the crowd. The dragon took a steadying breath, and took the plunge. 

“Next season, I’ll be taking a leave from the Gym Challenge as the Dragon-type Gym Leader. Hammerlocke Stadium will instead house the Dark-type Gym, led by Leader Marnie.” He said, and was met with stunned silence. “The Dark-type Gym will serve as the last badge a Gym Challenger must obtain before advancing to the championship semifinals.”

Raihan gestured at the projector screen behind him, and it came to life as Leon’s assistant turned a Rotom projector on. 

“The new Gym Challenge format will be as follows.” Raihan continued. “The newly-promoted Minor League Gym will be placed eighth on the ranking, and therefore will come first. It will then be followed by the Grass-type Gym, and so on and so forth, until Hammerlocke, where in place of a Dragon-type challenge, a Dark-type challenge will serve as the last hurdle before the semifinals.”

He looked at the crowd, and grinned slightly. 

“Before anyone asks, I will also explain the reason of my temporary retirement.”

Leon took a sharp breath, and the little Champion tensed up. 

“I will be leaving for the Sinnoh region to train for a year.” He said, and the murmurs started up again. “I will join the local gym challenge there, and I will become Champion, as I have always wanted.”

His eyes burned with passion as his voice grew in conviction as he spoke. 

“I will prove my strength as a Pokémon trainer, and I will come back to Galar to beat my greatest rival yet.”

The crowd turned to look at the little Champion, who was beaming up at Raihan with awe in their eyes. 

“Chairman Leon, the love of my life.” Raihan said, turning to look at Leon, whose cheeks darkened at his bold declaration. “And only then, I feel, will I have truly proven that I am deserving of his love.”

“Oh, Raihan.” The little Champion sighed happily. 

“Raihan.” Leon breathed, and Raihan lifted their joined hands to show the crowd their joined hands—sans rings, the visual proof of a lack of permanent commitment. 

“You deserve a Champion, and nothing less.” He said tenderly, and Leon’s eyes widened at him. “I love you, Leon, and someday I will be worthy of you.”

He kissed Leon’s knuckles as the hall fell silent. He turned back to the crowd, pride bright in his ice blue eyes that were thinned into draconic slits. 

“Thank you.” Raihan grinned. “The floor is now open for pertinent questions.” He declared, and the hall burst into activity.

* * *

“Babe, check it out. These tabloid rags are _ fast._”

Leon came to a stop in the middle of towelling his hair dry, his jaw falling slack at the sight of Raihan on their couch. He was in a white old, loose sweater that hung off one shoulder, big enough for the sleeves to reach his fingers. One of the sleeves were rolled up to his elbow to help him hold up a half-rolled up tabloid rag, and he reached up with his other hand to gently push his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose. His dreads were free from their ties, loosely dangling around Raihan’s face, making him look a little younger.

“Uh.” Leon said intelligently past the toothbrush he’d shoved into his mouth, and Raihan looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. Realisation dawned on him at the sight of Leon’s dazed expression, and he grinned slightly, and adjusted his position, stretching out his long legs to let Leon realise that he was wearing a pair of shorts, hidden expertly underneath his sweater to make it look like he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Leon swallowed thickly. “Uh.”

“Hey, handsome.” Raihan said lowly, hiding his coy little grin behind the rag as he blinked up at Leon. “Meowth got your tongue?” He ran his hand up his thigh in a slow, sensual drag as a facsimile of how Leon would, making a show of tilting his head back, baring the column of his throat to his fiancé in a show of utter submission. “Or did _ something else _ get it?”

Leon giggled nervously, and the toothbrush in his mouth fell out. 

“Flyog—_ghgh_.” He choked, and jerked in realisation that his toothbrush fell to the ground. Raihan burst out laughing, burying his face in the Goomy plush he’d won for Leon, waving his legs as he rolled over onto the couch. Leon found himself laughing, too, shaking his head fondly as he gathered his hair into his towel, wrapping it up with a huff before bending down to pick up his toothbrush. “Oh, Arceus. That was so unsexy.”

“We’ll try again next time.” Raihan grinned, reaching out for Leon and wiggling his fingers, and Leon laughed, heading over to his dragon to let him pull him into his lap. He tossed his toothbrush—cap and all—at the coffee table, and Raihan cuddled Leon as the other man went back to towelling his hair dry. When he ran out of patience for it, he tossed his towel into the hamper, uncaring if it didn’t get in (though it did, and Raihan was pleased as punch to see Leon’s clean shot). Raihan sighed happily, burying his face into Leon’s still slightly-damp hair and taking a deep breath, and Leon chuckled fondly, turning his head to press a kiss to his fiancé’s cheek. “Mm. Your shampoo smells so nice.” 

“Thanks.” Leon chuckled, reaching up to take Raihan’s glasses off to kiss him properly. They smiled against each other’s lips as Leon blindly put Raihan’s glasses down on the coffee table in front of them as Raihan adjusted the both of them until they were snug against each other, lying down on the couch. They parted for air, smiling up into each other’s eyes, and Raihan leaned down to press a kiss to the tip of Leon’s nose.

“I love you.” He murmured, and Leon hummed happily, cuddling closer against him. The Goomy plush was sandwiched between them, squeezed into what meagre space they had left, and Leon huffed, picking up the plush and throwing it at the bed, where it landed with a soft sound on top of the Trapinch plush. 

“Hey.” Raihan chuckled, stroking Leon’s hair over his back tenderly. “Handle the babies with care.”

“Don’t wanna.” Leon grumbled, burying his face in Raihan’s chest as he hugged him warmly. “It was in the way.”

“Didn’t take you to be that type.” Raihan grinned. “I thought _ I _ was the dragon in the relationship.”

Leon lifted his head to blow him a raspberry. “Who knows,” he said, “Maybe I actually have a second typing, and that’s why you’re such a good dragon to me.”

“Hm,” Raihan hummed. “Well, you’re definitely not a dragon. _ I _would know.” He twirled a lock of Leon’s hair between his fingers. “You’re no ice-type, either, not when you have absolutely sent me into more than enough sweltering ruts these past few seasons.”

Leon rolled his eyes. “Fairy, then?” 

“Fairy.” Raihan considered him for a long moment, and grinned. “Well, Zacian’s a Fairy-type, isn’t it?”

“Zacian? One of Hop and Gloria’s dogs?” Leon asked, and Raihan nodded. 

“I read up on them in Sonia’s book.” He pressed a kiss to the lock of Leon’s hair, smiling. “Zacian, the _ Fairy King’s Sword_. Slayer of dragons.” 

“Raihan.” Leon frowned, and his dragon laughed softly, shaking his head as he pecked Leon’s lips. 

“Seems fitting, isn’t it?” He asked. “You’ve certainly tamed me.” 

“I’m just kidding about the secondary typing thing, jeez.” Leon huffed. “Besides, how likely is that going to be? Sonia’s only found _ three _other people aside from you that have secondary typing. Out of how many!” Leon buried his face in Raihan’s chest again, and his dragon blinked in surprise. “I’m just a Normal-type person, and I’m quite happy with just that.” He huffed, and Raihan laughed, nodding as he lifted Leon’s chin to look into his eyes.

“I know.” He said, “And I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He leaned down to kiss Leon, humming fondly. Leon huffed, and he chuckled against his lips, pulling away to look at him with unbridled affection in his eyes. “And… a certain kind of way. If you know what I mean, babe.”

Leon blinked at him for a long moment, and dissolved into giggles, pulling Raihan’s lips up into a wide grin as they cuddled and laughed together. 

“You’re so…” Leon began, but he shook his head, sitting up to straddle Raihan, smiling down at him. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Me too.” Raihan smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek in his hand. “Why don’t you give me a hell of a time I won’t forget?” 

“With how frequently we have sex, Raihan, I’ll be more surprised if you actually remember _ every _time.” Leon rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. Raihan leaned up to kiss him deeply again, their smiles fitting perfectly together. “Mm. Bed?” 

“I don’t know, darling.” Raihan wrapped his arms around the back of Leon’s neck. “I don’t think we’ve christened this lovely white couch yet.”

They have. Quite thoroughly.

“I don’t think so, either.” Leon grinned. 

“Well, get on with it, then.” Raihan grinned, and laughed as Leon surged forward to kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i don't think any of you signed up for this shit but here we go


	7. Clear Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I almost wish tomorrow wouldn’t come. I almost don't want the night to end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > thanks to jp raileon fandom my headcanons for raihan has increased to  
\- polyglot  
\- excellent dancer (modern/classic)  
\- can sing  
\- can sing to summon dragons  
\- can carry multiple trapinch (15kg each)  
\- lance user
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 👑 ダンデさん @ 2/9 & 2/16 !!🌟 (@trickscd) [February 4, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1224697201139412993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> oh sweet baby jesus.
> 
> anyway it's been a while i'm sorry this story is ridiculously slow burn i don't know how we got like this i thought this would be quick n easy But No We Have A Whole Plot Now, Whatever I Guess
> 
> i'm running out of haha funny internet man things to say in my notes

It was a lazy, foggy Saturday morning that greeted them in Wyndon as Raihan slowly woke up. He smiled softly to himself, looking down at the mop of purple hair in front of him. He cuddled against Leon warmly, smiling dazedly, and for a moment, he let himself forget about everything. 

Forget about the Champion title—the impending scolding he was definitely going to get from his royal relatives. Forget about Hammerlocke, about battling, his career as a professional trainer. 

For a moment, all he thought about was the now. The life he was living with Leon by his side. Cuddled against him in the comfort of their cosy little flat in Wyndon, far from the penthouse flat that Leon got from Rose, or the lavish room Raihan used to live in in Hammerlocke Castle. Living a life they built together, where sweet memories curled up on the windowsill to take cat naps, and love breathed in every smile they shared. 

Separation was almost unthinkable. To think that in a few weeks, Raihan would leave, leaving Leon behind, alone, at home. For the first time in his life with Leon in it, there would be a sea between them, and the storms they brought would have to be weathered alone. 

Raihan would be alone in Sinnoh, a land far from home, unfamiliar and alien, to conquer and captivate it. Leon would be alone in Galar, rebuilding their home from the ground up to restore Pokémon to their home. 

There would be no one to hold Leon through his panic attacks. There would be no one to kiss him good morning, no one to touch him as intimately as he did. No one to make Leon gasp, and smile and moan, and laugh—no one to love Leon the way Raihan had for years, behind closed doors, atop messy king-sized beds, in romantic restaurant dates. 

The dragon inside him snarled possessively. 

_ Take him with you. _

Raihan shook his head. He knew he couldn’t do that. 

_ No one can touch him if he’s with you. _

No one could touch him even _ without _Raihan. The dragon knew it—he’s seen the way Leon battled, not just in Pokémon battles, but also in the war zone of Macro Cosmos. He fought to be as respected by the employees as they do now, and he worked hard to balance not just his new job as League chairman, but as a CEO, and the head of the Battle Tower.

Leon was fierce, hardworking and determined—shrewd, when he needed to be, decisive and confident. Over a decade ago, no one would have expected the adorable little country hick from Postwicke to get this far, and Raihan felt immensely proud of him. 

He fondly remembered the nights Leon stayed up studying up on how to run a company, and Raihan stayed with him, helping him learn and giving him snacks. 

(Among other things. Also equally important.)

It was hard, and it reminded Raihan of the time when he was getting his own degree in Galarian History, with—again, Leon by his side. 

It brought them even closer together, and at the time, he even dared to think maybe he could—

He’d wrapped a string around Leon’s finger when he thought he was too preoccupied with his textbooks to notice, imagining a life similar—but not quite as sweet—as the life he had now. Raihan let himself imagine he could do it, ask Leon to marry him, ask if he would want to spend the rest of their lives together. Ask if Raihan could be Leon’s, and vice versa. 

_ He’s _ ** _yours. _ **

Raihan shook his head. Leon was his own person, and this journey he was going to take was because Leon knew Raihan was his own person as well. 

That, he supposed, was the beauty in their relationship. 

“You’re so untamed, aren’t you,” he chuckled at himself, rolling over to look at the ceiling. “Even after all this time. I guess dragons really can never be tamed.”

_ Only slain. _

Raihan hummed, and shut his eyes. 

Well, if it was Leon, he supposed he didn’t mind. 

For a moment, Raihan thought about how different things might be if he was a Normal-type, just like Leon. Would they still have been the same? Would they still have found each other, or would they be two water drops in a sea of tears?

He jumped when he heard his Rotom phone buzzing, and he sat up carefully, making sure not to wake Leon up. He looked at the bedside table to see his phone almost vibrating off the tabletop, and he shook his head, picking it up. He got out of bed, looking at the contact, and winced. 

“Oh, boy.” He muttered, and padded barefoot to the balcony, half-grateful that he and Leon actually bothered cleaning up after sex the night before. He picked up his usual jacket along the way—it’d been slung over the back of the couch—and shrugged it on, stepping into a mismatched pair of slippers, the left one Leon’s (a slightly tattered Gigantamax Charizard), and the right one his own (a mildly-used new plain blue slider). Raihan headed outside, and sighed exasperatedly. “To be fair, they’re pretty fast this time…”

He answered the call, refusing the video option. 

“Hey, Gran.” He said with a sigh. 

“_Young man. What on Earth was that press conference statement?_” Not his grandmother, as he expected, but his uncle, and an ugly, unsettling feeling settled in Raihan’s chest. He rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he dropped himself on the cushioned wicker bench Sonia and Nessa gave them when they moved in together. 

“It’s called a declaration of ambition, Uncle. Yes, I’m moving to Sinnoh for a year. It’s fine, I’m coming _ back. _ Athletes do this all the time.”

“_That’s not what has us concerned._” Raihan snorted at that. “_It’s your statement afterward. How dare you place yourself in a position lower than some common folk?_”

Raihan winced, and peered at Leon. 

“Ugh, listen—” Raihan began.

“_No, Raihan. You listen to us for once in your life, you selfish little child._” The man on the other side snarled, and Raihan’s eyes widened in surprise, before his draconic blood surged in anger, his eyes thinning into slits, his own snarl curling his lips. “_Don’t think that being beloved by Galar’s people makes you exempt from the protocol that comes with your Dukedom—or, by all means, do abdicate, why won’t you._”

Raihan clenched his free hand into a fist tightly, burning crescent moons into his palm. “What do you want, Uncle?” He growled, his dragon rumbling angry white-hot rage in his throat. 

There was a moment where the man on the other side of the line floundered for a moment after being snarled at by Raihan, and he took no small pride in being able to do that.

“_Your statement has displeased the royal family, your grandmother especially. You are a Duke, Raihan. Chairman Leon, while the new CEO of Macro Cosmos, is still merely a commoner._” There was a pregnant pause for a moment, and Raihan’s fist began to shake. “_Though, a marriage like that would be quite the benefit for the royal family, when Chairman Leon accepts your proposal._”

“There is no proposal.” He snapped. “Only a promise—and one I am intending to keep.”

“_Oh, stop being such a child._” The man huffed. “_You are a member of Galarian nobility, and a Dragon-type! Conduct yourself accordingly. We would have preferred a true Galarian princess for you, but the merge with Macro Cosmos is quite appealing…_”

“I am _ not _ marrying Leon for Macro Cosmos.” Raihan shot back. “And for the record, you have all been up in my ass about our relationship since the very beginning, so if you think I’m going to start listening to you lot about this bull _ now, _you’ve got another storm coming.”

“_If it bothers you so much, why don’t you abdicate?_”

Raihan stopped, frowning. 

“_Well?_”

You, Raihan wanted to say. He squeezed his eyes shut, grumbling. 

“Because I want to take care of Hammerlocke Castle and the Vault.” He said instead.

“_Which you opened to the public._”

“The people of Galar deserve to learn about our past.” Raihan scowled. “Listen, is that all you have to tell me? I’ll have a word with Gran myself, and—”

“_There’s no need._” His uncle cut him off. “_That is indeed all. Stay safe in Sinnoh._”

Raihan huffed. “Goodbye, Uncle.” He snarled, and hung up without waiting for his uncle to respond. He sighed deeply, slumping back into his seat, only to jump when he felt Leon’s arms wrap around his chest from behind him. He squeaked slightly, feeling Leon’s pectorals press against him just the way he liked it, and he melted into laughter as he sank back against Leon’s chest, pressing a kiss to Leon’s wrist. 

“It’s just me, relax.” Leon said gently. “Was that your uncle?”

“Ugh.” Was the only explanation he offered Leon, and the long-haired man chuckled fondly, kissing his temple. “Thanks for the tits, babe. You always know how to cheer me up.”

“Of course you’d say that first.” Leon huffed, and Raihan grinned up at him. “What’d he say?”

“Threw a fit about the press con we had almost a week ago.” He said, and Leon whistled.

“New record.” He said, and Raihan snickered. 

“He’s early this time for my ‘scandals’.” He emphasized his words with air quotes, and Leon chuckled, letting Raihan go to pull away. Raihan pouted up at him, looking over the back of the bench to see that Leon had brought with him a tray with two steaming mugs of tea, a teapot and a plate of reheated scones. “Oh, Arceus. Lee. I love you so much. Please marry me.”

“That’s the idea.” Leon chuckled, putting the tray down on the little glass coffee table in front of the wicker bench as Raihan sat up, reaching for Leon’s hips to pull him into his lap. Leon chuckled fondly, pressing a kiss to Raihan’s cheek. “But I’m not counting that as your proposal.”

“Hm. Sure.” Raihan hummed, kissing Leon deeply, and he felt Leon smile against his lips. “Lemme just get a win on you first.”

“Now that’s more like it.” Leon murmured, pulling away from him to stretch out with a yawn. Raihan watched him fondly, and picked up his mug that had a little hand-drawn wobbly Goomy on it—a gift to him from the time they visited Wyndon Children’s Hospital. Raihan took a sip, and sighed deeply. 

“_Oh. _ You broke out the Shaymin blend.” 

“Yeah. Figured you needed it after getting an earful.” Leon chuckled. “It’s not actually made of Shaymin, right? Whatever the hell that is.”

“Don’t think so.” Raihan hummed, shaking his head. “I’ve heard that the Shaymin is a mythical Pokémon, though, so I doubt anyone could make tea from it—even if this is imported.” He blew Leon a raspberry. “Fancy, aren’t we?”

“You love the blend, asshole.” Leon rolled his eyes, and the two of them shared private laughter together. “But you know, Rai, I think I understand why you don’t want our engagement public yet.” 

“Yeah?” Raihan raised an eyebrow at him, and Leon smiled at him weakly. 

“I’m sorry I’m not good enough to be your husband.” He said, and Raihan’s expression fell, shaking his head. He put his mug down, and pulled Leon into a warm hug. “I…” Leon clung to him, burying his face into his fiancé’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Which one of us defended his Champion title for 10 years, Lee?” Raihan asked, stroking Leon’s hair tenderly. “Which one of us flew himself to the Isle of Armour with only the cash he made himself instead of asking for help?” Leon squeezed him tightly, and he only laughed. “Which one of us helped convict Rose for all his crimes? Which one of us faced off Eternatus all by himself, which one of us taught himself how to be a CEO—”

“Okay, okay!” Leon stammered, his cheeks on fire as he pulled away from Raihan to press his hand against Raihan’s mouth to silence him. He looked up into his fiancé’s eyes. “I… I get it.”

“I sure hope you do.” Raihan chuckled, pulling Leon’s hands away from his mouth. He pecked Leon’s lips, and sat back with a sigh. “Uncle Narcissus called to tell me off about my statement about being worthy of your love.” He said, and Leon blinked at him. “Told me that I shouldn’t have put myself in a position lower than a _ commoner, _” He rolled his eyes, and Leon smiled at him fondly. “And that Gran’s upset about it too.”

“You love your grandmother, Rai.” Leon sighed, and Raihan sighed.

“Yeah.” He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I would go to see her but right now I’m busy sorting out the Spikemuth exodus. You are, too.” 

“Yeah.” Leon sighed. “Well, just ring her up when you can.” He patted Raihan’s hand, and he smiled. “Thanks for telling me. This is going nothing like the dramas Sonia likes watching.”

“Yeah, well… I _ am _ marrying you. You deserve to know.” He huffed. “He also said it was _ convenient _I was marrying the Macro Cosmos CEO.”

Leon whistled. “What’d you tell him?”

“To sod off.” He scoffed. “Well, okay, not exactly like that, but you get it.”

“I do.” Leon’s smile at him was warm, and Raihan smiled back at him. “What about your mum?”

“She’s still out of the region.” Raihan sighed. “I’d like her to know about us from me, at least, before I go.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Leon nodded, and they fell quiet for a long time before anyone spoke again. 

“Hey, Lee?” Raihan asked, and Leon hummed. “Can we stay in bed all day today?”

Leon chuckled, and kissed his forehead. “Of course.” He said, and burst out laughing when Raihan quickly picked him up in a bridal carry. He wrapped his arms around Raihan’s neck.

“R-Raihan! If you drop me, your Sinnoh trip is _ over!_”

* * *

It didn’t take long until Raihan and Leon were sitting together in a Flying Taxi, hand in hand as they watched the Wyndon skyline fly past beneath them. The sun was setting in the far distance, already whispering its goodbyes as if Raihan would never see it again peeking over the skyline of Wyndon, and it felt bittersweet. 

Hammerlocke Castle soon passed underneath them, and Leon sighed, leaning on Raihan’s side. 

“To think that weeks could pass by so quickly…” he murmured, and Raihan nodded, squeezing his hand tenderly. 

“Sure feels that way, doesn’t it?” He asked. “Tomorrow, I’m leaving… tonight, we’re telling your family about our future together.”

“I almost wish tomorrow wouldn’t come.” Leon said. He gingerly hugged Raihan’s hand, and the other man sighed fondly, leaning down to press a kiss to Leon’s hair—braided, this time by Raihan, in an elegant sweep of purple down Leon’s shoulder—and the other man sniffled slightly. “I almost don’t want the night to end.”

“I gotta admit, I feel the same.” Raihan sighed. “It’s gonna be hard without you.”

“We’ll call each other as much as we can, I suppose. The time difference shouldn’t be _ too _ dramatic?” Leon asked, and Raihan shrugged. 

“We’ll be nine hours apart.” He said, but grinned. “Don’t worry. I can adjust for you, princess.”

“Ugh, shut up.” Leon rolled his eyes, and Raihan burst out laughing. They both fell quiet, though, when the Flying Taxi began to descend at Hedgewurst Station, where the plaza was mercifully empty for the time of day. Absently, Leon wondered if Hop and the little Champion had something to do with it, but as Raihan paid the cabbie, he decided not to dwell on it too much, especially when Raihan took his hand, muttering something or other about refusing to let Leon wander around alone because of his abysmal directional skills. 

Leon smiled fondly as he let himself get led by his fiancé down the road from the station and into Route 1, watching wild Wooloo lazily grazing next to a Dubwool keeping watch over them. A Rookidee chirped sleepily in the tree above them, and Leon gingerly sidestepped a napping Nickit on the side of the route. 

“You know,” Raihan said quietly, and Leon looked up at him as they continued to walk hand in hand down the road. “I’ve never actually gone to Route 1 during the Gym Challenge.”

“Really?” Leon blinked at him. “Not even to train?”

“No.” Raihan shook his head. “I spent so much time in the Wild Area. I figured that’d be the place to go, since everything was already there, and Motostoke and Hammerlocke were right through a doorway.” 

He squeezed Leon’s hand. “In fact, the only time I came here was because of you.”

“Oh.” Leon said softly, deflating slightly, and Raihan laughed.

“But you know, I really do like it here.” He stopped, tilting his head back to breathe deeply, and his eyes slid shut as he smiled contentedly. Leon watched him, and he couldn’t help but smile as Raihan slowly opened his eyes again. “Postwick’s beautiful.” He said, “It’s nothing like Hammerlocke, or Motostoke. Everywhere you look is so _ green. _It’s so peaceful here.”

He lifted their joined hands, and kissed the back of Leon’s hand. “It reminds me of you.”

“That I’m plain and simple?”

“That you’re beautiful. Down to earth.” Raihan clarified, and squeezed Leon’s hand. “It’s what I imagine Galar will be like, when you’re done with it. Peaceful. Beautiful. A place for _ all _Pokémon to call home.”

Leon flushed at that, and Raihan smiled down at him. “You put a ring on this, babe. You’re getting the full package of mush because of that.”

“I figured.” Leon made a show of sighing exasperatedly, but he was smiling. He opened his mouth to continue, but he stopped himself when the scent of barbecue wafted over to them. They lit up, and looked at each other, giddy with excitement. “Mum’s cooking!”

“What’re we waiting for, then?” Raihan laughed, and sped down the route, laughing brightly as he pulled Leon along with him.

* * *

Raihan had met Leon and Hop’s mother only a handful of times since he’d known his fiancé. Most of what he knew about her was through anecdotes from Leon, and in the few times they’d met, she had always been a soft-voiced, warm and kind person, if a little stiff and formal, always considerate of Raihan’s Dukedom a little too much. 

When he and Leon arrived at their house in Postwick, they arrived just in time to see the little Champion rushing from their home across the road towards the house, a basket of berries in their arms, their mother’s Budew perched on their shoulder. They lit up when they saw the two men, and gave them a friendly wave as they hurried past them, before charging into the house with a shout. 

Raihan and Leon shared confused looks, but the sound of Leon’s mum’s voice caught their attention.

“Lee! Raihan! You’re here!”

They turned to see her standing at the barbecue griddle, turning over a few sticks of skewered meat and vegetables. Leon lit up and hurried over to her, and she set her Magikarp fan down to meet him halfway, letting him pull her into a warm hug. 

“Oh! I’ve missed you.” She chuckled warmly, and pulled away from her son to see Raihan walking towards them at a more sedate pace. “And Raihan, of course. Hello!” 

“Hey, Auntie Daisy.” He greeted, and also gave her a hug when Leon pulled away from her. “Sorry we’re so late.”

“It’s no problem at all!” Daisy huffed. “You’re the main guest tonight, Raihan. Don’t you worry about a thing.” She turned to Leon and pointed at his fiancé. “Lee, show him up to your room, won’t you? We won’t be done for another hour or so.”

“Actually, Mum, we’ve… got something to tell you.” Leon said, and she blinked at them confusedly. 

“Oh?” She cocked her head. “Well. It seems her timing is impeccable, for once.” 

“Huh?” Raihan blinked at her, and she gave the two men a smile.

“You see, you two, we had a surprise of our own for you.” Daisy held her hands in front of her daintily, and turned the griddle off. “I’ll have your grandfather finish this off, Lee. You and Raihan go ahead. She’s waiting in your room.”

“Who is?” Raihan asked, but she simply smiled and ushered them on. Leon and Raihan shared confused looks, but headed into the house, smiling slightly at the sound of Hop, the little Champion and Sonia bickering in the kitchen, but they made a beeline to the second floor, coming to a stop in front of Leon’s room. 

“Have any clue who could be here?” Leon asked, and Raihan grinned witheringly.

“A hunch.” He replied, and squeezed the doorknob. “Let’s go.”

Leon nodded, and Raihan opened the door.

“Oh, Raihan. It’s been a while.”

Raihan froze at the sight of a small, dark-skinned woman standing by the window, and his eyes welled with tears. She turned around to smile at him, gently sweeping her dreads over her shoulder, and opened her arms for him. 

“I’m sorry I’ve missed out on a lot.” She said, “But I did my best to see you off tonight.”

“Mum!” He gasped, rushing into Leon’s room, and pulling her into a hug, sweeping her off her feet as she giggled brightly, hugging her son back. Leon smiled fondly at the sight as he shut the door behind him, and he strode into his room, longingly walking past his old bookshelf and his old collection of hats to sit on his old desk. Raihan and his mother pulled apart, and she cupped his cheek in his hand, warm affection in her ice-blue eyes. 

“Oh, you’re handsome, as always.” She said fondly. “I’ll miss you, sweetheart.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Raihan sniffled, and turned to look at Leon. “She’s here. My mum’s here.”

“Yeah.” Leon smiled, and nodded at her. “Hello, Auntie Odora.” 

“Leon.” She smiled, and he approached her to pull her into a hug. “Oh, it’s so good to see you too. Look at you both. You’re positively _ glowing._”

“Thanks, mum.” Raihan gingerly held her hand, and she let him, chuckling fondly. Leon pulled up his chair and gestured for her to sit, and Raihan helped her down before sitting down on Leon’s bed next to him. “I… wow.” Raihan laughed sheepishly. “I’m stupidly glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Odora nodded. “It was very hard to open up my schedule, but I wouldn’t miss this for the kingdom. I _ had _to see you off.”

Raihan smiled sheepishly, and after a light knock, Daisy stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. 

“Hello, boys.” She greeted. “Duchess Odora.”

“Oh, please. Odora is fine.” The other woman giggled, and scooted aside on Leon’s chair, patting it to let Daisy sit down.

“Thank you.” Daisy smiled as she sat down next to Odora. “Now, boys. What was it you wanted us to hear?”

Leon and Raihan shared a nervous look, and Raihan pulled his left hand out of his pocket. 

“Mum,” He said, “We got engaged.”

“Oh!” the women’s eyes widened, and Raihan held his hand out to show them the ring Leon got him. “_Oh!_” their eyes watered, and Leon and Raihan laughed sheepishly.

“Leon proposed to me on our anniversary, and I said yes.” He explained. “We’re getting married when I come back from Sinnoh.” 

Leon looked at him, smiling fondly. There was an unwavering surety in Raihan’s words—not just in his capability to become Champion of Sinnoh, but that he’ll be able to finally beat Leon. 

The smaller man smiled, and laced their fingers together. Raihan squeezed his hand. 

“We’d rather keep it a secret for now, though.” Raihan said. “You know how Uncle can get.”

“I do.” Odora nodded, but she was smiling. “Oh, you two. I’m so happy.”

“M-me too,” Daisy sniffled, and Leon jumped to his feet as his mother began to cry. “Oh, come off it, Lee. I’m fine, I just cry very easily.” She wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief, and smiled at her son. “This is wonderful news.” 

“Will you be telling everyone else at dinner tonight?” Odora asked, and Raihan nodded. “I see. Well, I’m sure the children will be thrilled to hear it.” 

“Yeah.” Leon laughed softly. “But they’re not the ones we’re worried about.”

* * *

The table was set at around 7 in the evening, tittering with nervous excited energy as the guests settled down around it. Hop and the little Champion sat next to each other practically _ vibrating _ with anticipation, and Sonia had an eager little grin on her lips as she helped her grandmother sit down next to Daisy. Leon and Raihan held hands under the table to calm each other down, and they settled down to eat.

The table was filled with casual, amicable chatter, until Raihan suddenly raised his glass of wine—his mother brought a good vintage from their stores, and Daisy was utterly _ delighted _ to serve it to all, save the children—and cleared his throat.

“Everyone, Leon and I have an announcement to make.” He said, and the table went quiet. “We ask that you keep this as private as possible, and that you keep it a secret until we ourselves announce it.”

“Hop, that includes you.” Leon said, and Hop blew his brother a raspberry. Chuckles spread around the table, and Leon blew his brother a raspberry back.

Raihan elbowed him lightly, chuckling fondly, and Leon sat back, grinning. 

“Leon and I got engaged during our anniversary. After we had a Pokémon battle, he popped the question and I said yes.” Raihan said, “We’re getting married next year, when I come back from Sinnoh a Champion, and defeat him for the first time in my life.”

“Oh, _ Arceus!_” Sonia screamed, getting up from her seat. “You’re basing your marriage on _ Pokémon battles?_”

Raihan looked taken aback. “Sonia, we met _ because _of Pokémon battling. If you have a problem with—”

“O-oh, I don’t!” She stammered. “Shit,” She swore, and then winced when she realised that the teens were with them. She shook her head. “I realise how that could sound terrible, but no! I don’t have a problem with that!”

“Then what?” Leon asked, blinking confusedly.

“_I owe Nessa 5 thousand quid!_” Sonia ruffled her hair in frustration, but stopped. “But, oh! Congratulations!”

“Congratulations.” Magnolia chuckled. 

“I already knew,” The little Champion huffed triumphantly. “But congratulations, all the same.” They turned to look at Hop, who was staring at his brother and Raihan blankly, and they cocked their head. “Hop?” They asked, poking his shoulder. “Hop.”

“Lee…” He began, and Leon nodded eagerly. Hop’s eyes welled with tears, and Leon’s smile dropped off his face. “I said _ I’d _propose like that! You promised!”

“I—wh—” Leon stammered, “When did we—”

“When we were _ kids! _ You promised you’d help _ me _propose like that!” 

Leon ran his hand through his hair, laughing helplessly. “I… I guess I did!” 

“It’s okay, Hop,” Raihan grinned, slinging his arm over Leon’s shoulders. “I’ll ask him again, so his first question won’t matter. Deal?”

Hop pouted at him. “Really?” 

“Of course! Only the last question counts. Right, Lee?” He looked at Leon, who rolled his eyes. 

“Sure.” He drawled, but he was smiling. “Your proposal idea’s safe, Hop.”

Hop beamed, and Sonia giggled behind her hand.

“I don’t know if it is, considering the target can _ hear _you, you know.” She sneered, and Hop turned red as he turned to look at the little Champion, who was pointedly trying not to look like they were listening. 

“W-well! It’ll be years from now!” Leon reasoned, “You’ll have plenty of time to adjust your strategy, and—”

“Damn it, Lee!” Hop huffed, bolting out of his seat and out of the dining room. They stared at the open doorway, and Hop peered back in sheepishly. “And congrats.” He said gingerly. “I hope you and Raihan will live happily ever after.” And with that, bolted away again.

“I’ll go get him.” The little Champion chuckled fondly, shaking their head, and heading out after him. The adults left at the table shared fond smiles, and Leon shook his head. 

“Teenagers.” He huffed, and smiled up at Raihan. “I think that went well, don’t you?”

“It’s okay.” He shrugged easily, and pressed a kiss to Leon’s cheek. 

“Okay, break it up!” Sonia cut in, “I can’t believe you’re ballsy enough to kiss your boyfriend in front of your parents.” 

“Fiancé.” Raihan corrected her, and kissed Leon again. “Maybe if you had the balls yourself to get your own?”

“Shut up.” Sonia grinned. “Now, make yourselves useful and get us dessert so the children can come back in. Don’t keep us waiting!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> raihan's family:  
\- (father's dead.)  
\- mother: Duchess Odora, from sweet pea (_Lathyrus odoratus_, "goodbye")  
\- uncle (father's side): Lord Narcissus (_Narcissus poeticus_, "new beginnings")  
\- grandmother (father's side): Her Highness Dahlia, Princess Royal, Dowager Duchess of Hammerlocke ("elegance and dignity")


	8. Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I love you, Leon. I’ll be back before you know it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > me naming raihan's mons: [REDACTED] the duraludon, darude the flygon, gooms the goodra, [REDACTED] the torkoal, [REDACTED] the garchomp,  
me naming leon's mons: red the charizard. good night
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 👑 ダンデさん @ 2/16 !!🌟 (@trickscd) [February 9, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1226519162496770048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> happy halloween. have some porn i guess

“Mm—Raihan, wait—nnh—”

Leon couldn’t help the stupid grin that crossed his face as Raihan pressed him into his childhood bed’s sheets, laughing brightly as Raihan climbed on top of him, a low rumble of pleasure vibrating in the back of his throat. Leon’s halfhearted protests were all swallowed up by Raihan’s kisses, and he giggled as Raihan settled his large hands on Leon’s hips. 

“C’mon, babe.” Raihan grinned. “We’ve always wanted to try this. For reals, this time too. Role playing back in our flat in Wyndon doesn’t count.”

“Mm, yeah, but I think Hop and our mums are still awake.” Leon murmured, but was making no move to stop Raihan, scooting up the bed and pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt before kissing him senseless again. 

“Are we roleplaying now?” Raihan snickered against Leon’s lips, grinding their hips together. Leon moaned softly, and Raihan slipped his tongue into his mouth, chuckling lowly. He laced their fingers together as he pressed Leon’s hands into the mattress, and Leon squirmed beneath Raihan in anticipation. 

“No,” Leon breathed when they parted for air. “But… we’re really gonna get in trouble if we get a little too out of hand.” He leaned up to peck the tip of Raihan’s nose. “So keep it down, little dragon.”

“Yes, sir.” Raihan growled, grinning widely. “How do we say stop, babe?”

“Rose.” Leon replied obediently, and Raihan nodded. 

“Good, sir. Are we going to play, sir?” He asked eagerly, and Leon made a show of considering his answer, before grinning widely and nodding. Raihan’s grin widened, and he leaned down to kiss him tenderly. “_Fuck yeah._” He said against Leon’s lips, and the smaller man laughed fondly. Raihan pulled away from him, and gave him a smirk. “Lee, you look so _ good _ like this.”

“Rai, we’re gonna get into so much trouble, cut it out.” Leon whined, squirming between Raihan’s legs. He shivered pleasantly when his fiancé growled softly in warning, grinding his hips against Leon’s. His half-hard cock rubbed against Leon’s abdomen, and Leon could feel Raihan’s full-body shudder of approval. “_Rai! _ You’re already getting hard, you pervert!”

“Shut up, you’re getting hard too.” Raihan shot back, letting one of Leon’s hands go to reach behind him, groping Leon’s erection. Leon shuddered, moaning softly as he buried his face in his pillow to muffle himself as Raihan gave him a few teasing, too-light pumps through his jeans. “Naughty Lee.” He teased. “Getting so turned on in your childhood room, tsk tsk.”

“Y-you’re—you’re touching me, th-that's why!” Leon spluttered, his cheeks growing hot as he reached down to vainly try and stop Raihan’s hand. Raihan simply moved his thigh to block it, and Leon whined in protest. 

“Shit!” Raihan hissed, leaning down to kiss him deeply, swallowing Leon’s whine between their lips as he deftly began to undo the fly of Leon’s jeans. “Babe, we gotta be quiet or your mum or Hop’s gonna hear.”

“Th-then cut it out!” Leon hissed, but rutted his hips up against Raihan’s hand as he worked his jeans open. “I-it’s s-so—so _ weird _to do it here, Rai, we can’t—”

“We don’t have any other time.” They did, Raihan’s Sinnoh flight was in the evening, but neither of them cared to be accurate tonight. “Besides, didn’t you say you were gonna spend as much time as you could with me now? Let’s have sex, baby.” He shuffled down Leon’s legs slightly, and began to slowly, teasingly slide Leon’s jeans down. 

“B-but I…” Leon looked down at Raihan’s crotch, where his own impressive erection tented his trousers obscenely, and swallowed thickly. “I…”

“You want my cock, don’t you?” Raihan asked roughly, grinning widely to let Leon see his sharp, sharp fangs. “Want it in your mouth? Want it plugging you up, just how you like it?”

Leon shivered. “I-I do. I want it.” He hesitated, and peers at his door. “But…”

“Don’t worry, Lee. I’ll take care of everything, okay? I’ll protect you.” Raihan said tenderly, and Leon finally nodded gingerly. “That’s the spirit.”

“Wait, time out.” Leon said suddenly, and Raihan raised an eyebrow at him. “Yellow. I mean, yellow.”

“What’s up?” Raihan asked, sitting up and getting off of his fiancé. “Lee?”

“I genuinely do not remember if I locked the door or not.” Leon said, and got out of bed, but not without stumbling over his jeans. That made Raihan burst out laughing as he watched Leon struggle to get to the door before giving up on his jeans, yanking them off first before storming to the door in just his shirt and briefs. He made sure to turn the doorknob, looking relieved when he felt the lock disengage. Leon made sure of locking the door with an exasperated huff, and when he turned back to look at Raihan, he smiled sheepishly. “It’s locked. I locked it earlier, I mean. I. Uh.”

“Get back here, sir.” Raihan cooed, reaching out for him, and Leon grinned. “Thanks for doing away with the other half of my tease job.”

“We both know I’m just gonna end up really noisy if you tease me.” Leon huffed, but climbed into bed with his fiancé, “Sorry, that was unsexy as hell.”

“Yellow lighting is not unsexy, it’s called being safe, dumbass.” Raihan replied, pulling Leon on top of him as he kissed him deeply. “We ready to resume, babe? You okay?”

“Yeah.” Leon murmured, and pulled away. “Um.”

“Hm?” Raihan hummed, cocking his head at him. 

“Right, uh.” Leon took a steadying breath, and Raihan patiently waited for him until he spoke again. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“You wanna just,” Raihan made a vague gesture, “Do away with the weird roleplaying thing?” 

Leon blinked at him, and Raihan shrugged. “While it’s cute to see you like that, I think I’d like to be with the real you for the last few hours we have together.” 

Leon’s eyes softened on him, and Raihan gave him a toothy grin, rubbing the back of his head. “Shut up. Let me be romantic.”

“I am.” Leon said softly, leaning down to kiss him tenderly, and Raihan sighed against his lips, smiling contentedly as his hands settled on Leon’s hips, idly tracing infinity-loops on his skin with his thumb under his shirt. “Can I still suck you off?”

“_Fuck yes._” Raihan hissed. “Mm, you’re even talking dirty for my sake.” He snickered, and Leon rolled his eyes. “Ugh, I love you so much.”

“Love you too.” Leon murmured, and moved down Raihan’s body. His hands stroked down the length of his fiancé’s torso, feeling his dragon shudder under his touch as his hands went down to palm his erection straining against his slacks. “Stay quiet for me, little dragon?”

“Yes, sir.” Raihan growled, his eyes thinning into slits as he watched Leon unzipping his fly intently. Leon slowly pulled his straining erection out from his briefs, and gathered his hair up behind him into a ponytail. “Sir—Leon, sir—” his quiet plea broke off into a throaty growl, and he reached for Leon’s hand. “I’ll—lemme help you.”

“Thank you.” Leon chuckled fondly, letting Raihan bury his fingers in Leon’s hair, gripping tightly, and he hissed in approval, arching forward to rub his own straining—still clothed—cock against Raihan’s. Raihan growled softly, and Leon ducked his head down to swallow the head of Raihan’s cock. 

He snarled through his teeth, clamping his hand over his mouth as he kept himself from being too loud as the wet heat of Leon’s mouth enveloped him, and his fist tightened in Leon’s hair. Leon moaned around Raihan’s cock between his lips, and the dragon fought to keep his hips still as Leon slowly took the rest of him into his mouth. Leon pressed his hand down on Raihan’s hip to help him stay still, as the sight of Leon’s lips stretching obscenely around his dick drove Raihan closer and closer to orgasm. 

“B-babe, s-sir,” Raihan stammered, yanking slightly at Leon’s hair, and Leon looked up at him past his long eyelashes. He groaned at the sight of him like that, peering up at him with a dick in his mouth, and he took a steadying breath as he tore his gaze away from him. “Oh, _fuck._ _Leon._” 

Leon hummed, wiggling his hips teasingly, and Raihan growled, unceremoniously yanking him off his cock by his hair. He cut off Leon’s shout of protest with a rough kiss, thrusting his tongue into Leon’s mouth to chase the taste of himself on his fiancé’s tongue. Unable to pull away thanks to the rough, _ tight _grip Raihan had on his hair, Leon melted into their kiss, squirming slightly as Raihan’s free hand reached down to grope his ass roughly. 

They parted for air, and Leon laughed breathlessly, finally managing to pull away when Raihan’s grip let up on his hair. 

“What happened to me sucking you off?”

“I’m so fucking _ noisy, _if you didn’t notice.” Raihan grumbled. “So here’s an idea.”

Leon raised an eyebrow at him, but squeaked in alarm as Raihan slid down to lie back completely, before bodily manhandling him until Leon was kneeling over his head. 

“R-Raihan!” Leon hissed, peering at Raihan over his shoulder. “Are you _ serious?_”

“What? 69’s a position we’ve only done so many times before.” Raihan grinned down at him. “And it’ll shut us up long enough for me to get you open for me.”

“Fine.” Leon grumbled, “By the way, we’re at home, so I don’t want you getting any ideas on creampie. Use a condom. I know you brought some with you.” 

“Hm, who says?” Raihan hummed, already pulling down Leon’s briefs, and Leon huffed exasperatedly. 

“I know for a _ fact _you carry supplies with you all the damn time, you insatiable bastard.” He said, “You carry condoms and lube with you like how Sonia carries tampons around in her purse.”

“Hey,” Raihan pouted at him. “Not my fault my ruts come out of nowhere.” 

Leon rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. “Fine, fine. Get them ready, then.”

“Jeez.” Raihan huffed. “And here I thought we can be all romantic. It’s my last night in Galar and everything.”

“You started the 69 thing, Rai, don’t you start complaining about this being _ not _ romantic.” Leon gently nudged his knee against Raihan’s cheek. “Besides, we can do that later. Get me open _ right now _or you’re not getting me open at all.”

Raihan grinned at him widely. “Yes, sir.” He purred, and quickly pulled Leon’s briefs down. Leon laughed as his thighs were forced together, and he dropped down as his balance quickly shifted. Raihan jumped as Leon dropped onto his face, and the both of them burst out laughing, tangled up in each other as they fell limp on the bed, simply holding onto each other. They cut themselves off when they heard a knock at the door, and Odora’s muffled voice floated in. 

“_Raihan, dear, do keep it down. Hop and Daisy are sleeping across you two._”

“Sorry, mum!” Raihan called at the door, “Goodnight!” 

“_Good night, darling._” She said, “_Good night to Leon, too._”

“Good night, Auntie Odora!” Leon called, and they stayed still as they listened to her footsteps, moving further away until they heard a door creak shut, and then silence. They stayed quiet for a moment longer, and Leon slowly lifted himself off the bed. They looked at each other, wide-eyed.

Leon looked at the way Raihan’s face was pressed against his trapped thigh, cheek squished into the meat of it, and Raihan could see the way Leon’s arms were shaking, barely keeping himself up as he struggled not to burst out laughing again. He smiled fondly, feeling affection well in his chest at the sight of Leon like this, bad sex and all, and he shook his head. 

“Lee,” He said softly, “Let’s… keep it simple, tonight.”

“Yeah,” Leon agreed, chuckling fondly as he rolled off the bed, pulling off the rest of his clothes. Raihan got up, too, stripping down until he was naked, and got back into bed with Leon, reaching for his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Hey.” He said softly, as Raihan pressed their foreheads together, and Raihan chuckled.

“Hey yourself.” He said, and leaned forward to press their lips together in a slow, unhurried kiss. Leon smiled against Raihan’s lips as he let his dragon push him down into bed, letting go of Raihan’s hand to wrap his arms around the back of Raihan’s neck, reaching up to toy with his dreads as Raihan slowly kissed him, rubbing their tongues together sensually. They parted for air, sharing a smile in the space between them as Leon cupped Raihan’s cheek in his hand, thumbing at his cheekbone as Raihan looked down at him with sparkling blue eyes brimming with affection. 

“I think I like this idea best.” Leon murmured, and Raihan smiled. 

“Me too.” He said, leaning down again to press kisses down the column of his neck, and Leon’s eyes slid shut, shivering pleasantly as Raihan traced a path of butterfly kisses against Leon’s throbbing pulse. His hand moved down to fist his bedsheets, while the other snapped up to cover his mouth to keep himself from accidentally moaning too loud. Raihan stayed unmindful of Leon’s movement as he ghosted his lips over Leon’s pectorals, pressing a chaste kiss to each of Leon’s nipples. 

Leon groaned against his hand as Raihan’s hand came up to grope one of his pectorals, while the other one got Raihan’s mouth, sharp, _ sharp _fangs brushing next to his sensitive skin as his tongue played with his nipple, already stiff in anticipation and from Raihan’s ministrations. 

“_Ngh, _Rai…” Leon said weakly, and he felt his dragon grin against his skin. 

“Lee, I love you.” He said softly, pulling off Leon’s nipple to rub his cheek against his pectorals, peering up at him. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’m… I’m gonna miss you too.” Leon said, wincing as Raihan nuzzled his chest, and he turned his head to the side to muffle his moan into his pillow. “_Rai, _ please…”

“I know, I know.” Raihan chuckled, and suddenly bit down around Leon’s nipple. Leon jolted, his eyes going wide as Raihan’s teeth sank into his skin, and he bit into his knuckles to keep himself from shouting as Raihan pulled off to admire his slightly-bleeding bite mark on Leon’s skin. “I wanna leave more on you. Can I, sir, please?” 

Leon nodded desperately. “Make me feel it in the morning. At night, when you’re gone.” He murmured, and Raihan grinned. 

“Yes, sir.” He replied, and moved back up Leon’s neck to start leaving hickies along his collarbone, up his throat. Leon squirmed helplessly as Raihan marked him up, and his hands shot up to grip his shoulders tightly, tight enough that Raihan _ knew _he’d be bruised tomorrow morning. Still, he let Leon do it, ignoring the pain to leave behind a necklace of hickies right underneath where most of Leon’s shirt collars would go, before moving down to Leon’s shoulder to sink his teeth into it. 

Leon jerked underneath him, gasping a little too loudly, and Raihan quickly pulled off of Leon’s shoulder to swallow the rest of Leon’s groan. 

They parted, panting, and Raihan cupped Leon’s cheek in his hand. “Too hard?”

“A little.” Leon winced, but he gave Raihan a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I liked it.”

Raihan smiled back down at him, and nodded. He reached for the bedside table, sitting up as he got his wallet, and Leon laughed softly when he dropped a packet of lubricant and a condom packet onto the bed next to Leon’s head. He took the packet of lubricant and pressed it into Leon’s palm as he moved back down to press kisses to Leon’s heartbeat. 

“Babe, why don’t you open yourself up while I leave my marks on you?”

“As long as I can leave marks on you later.” Leon huffed, but was already opening the packet of lube, pouring it over his fingers as Raihan hummed his consent, nodding against Leon’s pectorals as he went back to biting and marking him up. Leon shivered in anticipation as he reached down to his entrance, gingerly rubbing his fingers against it. He jerked his hips up slightly, pressing his erection into Raihan’s abdomen, and his dragon chuckled fondly as he rutted his hips down in response, rubbing his own erection against Leon, too. 

Leon groaned softly, biting his lip hard as he felt pleasure slowly wash over him as they rutted against each other’s naked bodies, and Raihan chuckled as he moved back up Leon’s neck to press a kiss to his jugular. 

“Leon, open up.” He said softly, and Leon nodded, slipping his wet fingers inside himself. He groaned softly as Raihan kissed him deeply, already anticipating the noise. Leon carefully opened himself as Raihan distracted him with slow, sensual kisses, adjusting to rub their weeping cocks together and bumping his knot against the junction where Leon’s hip met his thigh. 

“R-Rai, Rai…” Leon said softly, panting heavily as he finally deemed himself ready. “Please… I’m—I’m ready.”

Raihan pulled away from him to admire his handiwork. 

“Fuck, you look like you’ve been _ mauled, _ babe.” He grinned, looking at the circles and crescent moons of teeth marks on Leon’s skin. “There’s no denying who did this to you.”

“Y-yeah…” Leon smiled. “Only you.”

He reached up to wrap his arms around the back of Raihan’s neck, pulling him into a deep kiss, and Raihan let him. He blindly reached for the condom next to Leon’s head, and rolled it on easily while they kissed and kissed. 

He pulled away from Leon gently, pressing their foreheads together. 

“Lee,” he said quietly, “We gotta stay quiet, okay?”

Leon nodded. “Please, Rai. Get in me.” He begged, parting his legs obscenely wide, and Raihan whistled. 

“Now _ that’s _what I wanna hear.” His dragon grinned, kissing Leon deeply again as he reached down to hold one of Leon’s thighs open. His other hand gently guided the head of his cock to press against Leon’s wet hole, and slowly he pushed into him. Leon seized up, his toes curling in pleasure as his eyes went wide, and he pulled Raihan down into another kiss to smother his moan as Raihan’s cock speared him open. 

The dragon above him growled low in his throat, shuddering as he felt Leon squeeze him in a deliciously _ hot _press, and it felt like forever until he finally slid home, his knot pressing against the rim of Leon’s hole. 

They parted with twin gasps, Leon shuddering as he held Raihan close to himself. 

“Y-you okay, Leon?” Raihan asked, his voice rough with arousal, and Leon nodded, tearing up as overwhelming pleasure shot up his spine. “Use your words, sir.”

“Y-yeah. Yes. Oh, it’s—Rai, you’re so _ big._” He breathed reverently, as if it was his first time taking Raihan again, and Raihan smiled down at him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips. “I—_hhgk—_” Leon twitched, squirming a little, and he gasped when his movement pressed Raihan’s cock against his prostate. “A—_aah_—”

“Mm, I love it when you get like this when my dick’s in you.” Raihan grinned, kissing Leon’s temple tenderly. “Like your whole brain just shuts down when you’re plugged up. You _ love _this.”

“Yes, yes_ yes_…” Leon breathed, nodding desperately. “So… so _ full—_I—I love you so much, Rai, I’m so full…”

“I got you, baby.” Raihan murmured, and kissed Leon deeply as he slowly pulled his cock out until only the tip was left inside. “Let’s take it slow tonight.”

“Yes, yes,” Leon gasped, and he keened softly as Raihan slowly slid back in. He shuddered from head to toe, his legs locking around Raihan’s hips as Raihan began to slowly rock in and out of him. “Rai—Rai, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Raihan kissed him deeply, shivering as he felt Leon squeeze around him _ deliciously, _ and he knew just how much Leon loved feeling every single inch of Raihan sliding into him. “I love you _ so much, _ Leon.”

He pressed his hips against Leon’s, flush and white-hot, and Leon gasped against Raihan’s lips. Raihan’s knot caught on the edge of his entrance, and he jerked in anticipation, his hands shooting up to tangle his fingers in Raihan’s dreads. 

“Knot, knot,” he panted. “Raihan, knot me.”

“In a minute,” his dragon growled, slowly picking up the speed with his thrusts. “I’m gonna miss you, Lee. It’s gonna be so hard.”

“M-me too,” Leon said faintly, squirming as he felt his cock bouncing between their abdomens. “Raihan, I’m gonna miss you so much. I’m—I love your touch, I love your kiss—_mmh…_”

Raihan kissed him deeply as his hips rolled into Leon’s faster, until he was snapping them forward, careful not to rock them too much, lest they started hammering Leon’s bed headboard into the wall. Leon’s voice came out in a quiet staccato of ‘ah-ah-ah’s as Raihan thrust into him, swallowed between deep kisses as he held Raihan close, tears rolling down his cheeks as their orgasms slowly approached. Leon raked his nails down Raihan’s back, making his dragon growl, almost expecting his bones to snap and break, wings bursting out from where Leon tore his skin open. They were dimly aware that Leon may have made Raihan _ bleed, _but neither of them cared, the pain only sharpening Raihan’s pleasure as he rocked against Leon’s body beneath him. 

“Touch me, touch me,” Leon begged, “Rai, please—before you go—so I don’t forget—”

Raihan growled lowly, reaching between them to jerk Leon off, and he kissed him again to muffle Leon’s little shout at the sudden friction from Raihan’s hand. His thrusts grew faster, more erratic and desperate as Leon’s walls fluttered around him, and his eyes thinned into slits, a draconic snarl rumbling from his throat. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Leon sobbed against Raihan’s lips, “I’m—I’m so close—”

“I love you too,” Raihan growled. “More than anyone in the world.” He kissed Leon roughly, and stuffed his knot into his fiancé, muffling his gasp as the overwhelming pressure finally made him reach his climax, coming with a spurt that hit their chests. Raihan snarled as Leon squeezed around him tightly, rutting his hips against Leon’s a few more times before he came, too, into the condom he was wearing, burying himself deep inside Leon’s body. They weakly rode out the last few waves of their afterglow before Raihan collapsed on top of Leon, panting heavily, unmindful of the cum between them. 

“I love you so much, Leon.” He said quietly, lacing their fingers together, and he kissed Leon’s knuckles. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Me… me too.” Leon murmured. “Come home to me safely, okay?”

“I will.” Raihan kissed Leon’s lips tenderly. “Stay safe here at home, too. Stay away from Uncle Narcissus as much as you can.”

“I will.” Leon replied sleepily, and Raihan smiled fondly. “I don’t… wanna sleep.” He mumbled, but let Raihan gently roll them over on their sides, cuddling close while they waited for Raihan’s knot to subside. 

“It’s alright, Lee.” Raihan murmured. “I’ll still be here in the morning.”

Leon snuggled closer, humming as he shut his eyes. “Okay.”

Raihan smiled, and began to hum an old melody—one Odora used to sing to him as a child, one that could summon or subdue Hammerlocke’s dragons if they were in hearing range. It was an old childhood lullaby that worked with even Red when he was inconsolable, one Raihan sang desperately to calm the Charizard down on the roof of Hammerlocke castle, while the little Champion and Hop subdued a much larger, more fearsome dragon in the background. 

Tonight, it was the lullaby that sent both the dragon and his king to sleep, on the last night they were together for a long, lonely year.

* * *

The connecting train between Hilldon Station and Wyndon Station to the airport was about as full as it normally was for the time of year—with the Gym Challenge over, the tourists coming in were considerably less, but with Wyndon being Galar’s centre of commerce, the airport was still as busy as ever. Leon and Raihan stepped out of the train carriage, the both of them in long, buttoned-up trench coats, Raihan positively _ swimming _in the massive muffler Daisy gave him that morning as a farewell present. Leon was wearing his own muffler he got from Hop and Sonia, and he stopped to look up at the way Thornton Airport peeked out from above the station’s clear roofing. 

Leon took a sharp breath, hesitating when Raihan began to move on without him, and Raihan looked at him, warm affection in his eyes. He leaned down to kiss Leon’s temple, wrapping his arm around his fiancé’s waist as he pulled his luggage along to let it stand next to him. 

“You’re leaving.” Leon said quietly. “It’s really happening…”

“I know.” Raihan replied. “It’s time for me to go.”

Leon hesitated again, feeling his eyes prickle with emotion, but Raihan leaned down to kiss him properly this time, unmindful of the cooing from the people who finally noticed their arrival. He turned around to grin at the crowd their arrival gathered, and took Leon’s hand, raising it alongside him. 

“I’ll see you again, Galar!” He cheered, and the crowd cheered for him. He looked at Leon, and kissed his hand. “You all know I won’t be able to stay away too long from this beautiful man.”

That got him squeals of delight, and he grinned widely at the crowd again. He gave them all a wave, and Leon laughed into his free hand, trying not to cry—

“_Heeeey! _ Stop them!”

Leon jumped, and Raihan quickly stood protectively in front of him as the crowd parted, panicked and confused shouts filling the air as a trio of railway staff pushing along a cart full of Pokéballs skidded to a halt near them. Leon’s eyes widened, and Raihan pulled him back, already pulling out a Pokéball from inside his messenger bag. 

“The hell’s going on?” He demanded, as the three strange people straightened up, scowling. They pulled out a Pokéball each from inside their pockets, and Leon blinked confusedly. 

“What the…”

Raihan’s eyes thinned into slits threateningly. “Whoever they are, they don’t look friendly, Lee. Gladiolus! Let’s go!”

He threw out his Pokéball, deploying his Duraludon, and he roared powerfully at the thieves. They looked shocked at Raihan’s Pokémon, but steeled themselves as they released their own trio of Pokémon—Skorupi, Bronzong, and a roaring, angry-looking Machoke. 

“Raihan!” Leon gasped. “Be careful with Gladdie—the Pokémon don’t look… alright.”

“I know.” Raihan nodded steely, standing protectively between Leon and his opponents. 

“Wait—you’re outnumbered, I’m getting Red—” Leon stammered, but was stopped when they heard the voice again. 

“Be careful, that’s Team Rocket!” Yelled the newcomer, skidding to a halt beside Raihan. He was blond, a good head shorter than Raihan and looking positively _ miserable _in a pair of leggings jeans and a yellow hoodie, visibly shivering in the cold weather. 

“Team Rocket?” Raihan echoed. “I’ve heard about them!”

Leon’s eyes widened. “They’re a criminal organisation, aren’t they? They steal Pokémon for profit!”

“That’s right!” The blond nodded, turning to look at Leon, and _ froze _ when he saw him. His eyes widened and his jaw fell slack, and Leon cocked his head at him. 

“U-um.” He said intelligently. “Hello?”

A bright red flush crossed the blond’s tanned skin, and a goofy grin crossed his face as he stood protectively in front of Leon, too. 

“It’s okay, gorgeous! I’ve got this, I’m a Pokémon trainer, too!” He chuffed proudly, and Raihan whirled around to look at him in alarm. Leon rolled his eyes, and stepped out from behind Raihan to stand at his other side. 

“It’s a triple battle, idiots.” He deadpanned, and deployed his own Pokéball. “Red, let’s show these thieves what it means to be criminals in Galar!”

Red landed on the ground with a heavy _ slam _next to Gladiolus, and roared into the sky. The Duraludon looked up at the Charizard, and gave each other nods of acknowledgement. 

“_Whoa!_” The blond’s eyes widened, but he was grinning. “Mr. Gorgeous, you’re a trainer too?”

“Actually, he’s _ more _ than that, he’s the _ Cham_—” Raihan began, snarling possessively, but Leon clicked his tongue at his dragon. Raihan pursed his lips, scowling petulantly. 

“Battle now, chat later.” Leon said sternly. 

“Yes, sir.” Raihan grumbled. 

“Yes, sir!” The blond cheered. “Time to come out, Lemons!”

He threw out his own Pokéball, and out of it came the most curious-looking Raichu Leon and Raihan had ever seen. It looked soft and squishy to the touch, and there was a smile on its mouth as it let out a cry, stretching out and jumping into the air to surf on its floating tail. Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“That’s… a Raichu?” He asked, and the blond grinned at him smugly, thumbing his nose with pride. 

“An Alolan Raichu! He’s my partner, Lemons!”

“Oh, wow.” Leon smiled. “He’s adorable.”

“Just as cute as you are, gorgeous!” The blond chirped, and Leon blushed. Raihan snarled at him, and across them, the Team Rocket grunts finished talking between themselves too.

“Skorupi, use Venoshock on that squishy-looking Raichu!” One of them ordered, and the Skorupi snarled, rearing up before charging at Lemons. It opened its jaw to spit out venom with a snarl. 

The blond jerked in alarm, and he hesitated—

“No hesitation!” Raihan snarled, “Gladiolus, block the attack!”

“Wait, he’ll get hurt—” The blond protested, but Raihan thrust his hand out at the young man, stopping him from his protest when the Duraludon pulled the Raichu aside, taking the Venoshock without even a flinch. The newcomer’s eyes widened, his jaw hanging open.

“Steel-type… of course!” He breathed. 

“Hesitate in the middle of the battle, and that’s it!” Raihan barked, “Gladiolus, Stone Edge!”

The Duraludon dropped low to the ground and let out a powerful roar, summoning a shard of stone up from in front of him, and shards charged towards the Skorupi, whose eyes widened in alarm as it scrambled away from the Pokémon. 

“You’re not getting away that easily!” Leon called, “Red, use Gladdie’s stones for an Ancient Power!” 

Red surged forward to follow the path of Gladiolus’s Stone Edge to swipe off the tips with his wings, before launching them at the Skorupi at breakneck speed. 

“Bronzong, reflect the Charizard’s attack!” one of the grunts ordered, and the Bronzong shook with power. Leon’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. 

“Red, get away!” He called, and the Charizard quickly dodged to the side as his attacks bounced away from the Skorupi. 

“Don’t forget this is a triple battle!” The Bronzong’s trainer crowed. One of their partners nodded, and jerked his finger at Gladiolus.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to do this! This is my revenge on you ending my competitive career, Leader Raihan! Machoke, tear that Duraludon apart!”

Raihan grit his teeth, making a move to order Gladiolus to move, when the blond jumped to action. 

“Lemons, use Psychic!” He ordered, and the Raichu nodded, flying up into the air as it pressed its stubby little paws to its temples. He let out a cry as a wave of psychic energy slammed right into the Machoke as it charged at Gladiolus, and it was immobilised immediately. 

“Raihan!” Leon barked, and Raihan nodded. “The Skorupi!”

“Gladiolus, another Stone Edge!” 

The Duraludon roared at the Skorupi, sending sharp stones after it again as it scrambled away at the sound of its trainer’s shout, and Leon turned to the Machoke. 

“Red, Air Slash!” He ordered, and Red slammed his wings into the Machoke, sending it flying into the wall, where a crowd of terrified people ran away. Leon turned to look at the blond. “You! The Skorupi—”

“Got it!” He nodded. “Lemons, hold that Skorupi still!”

Lemons cried out, letting out another wave of psychic energy that hit the Skorupi dead-on, holding it still long enough for Gladiolus’s Stone Edge to slam into it, and Leon nodded as he saw it faint almost immediately. 

“Red!” He barked. “Fire Blast!” 

Red roared as he turned sharply to the Bronzong, and its trainer grit their teeth. 

“Bronzong! Confuse that Charizard!” 

The Bronzong let out a loud, terrible sound, and Leon’s heart shot to his throat when Red screeched to a halt, his eyes going unfocused as he turned to look at Gladiolus, growling lowly. 

“Red! No!” Leon gasped, and Raihan grit his teeth.

“Snap him out of it, Gladiolus!” He ordered, and the Duraludon nodded determinedly, surging forward to grapple claws with the raging Charizard. 

“Red, wake up!” Leon called. “You’ve been confused!”

The blond frowned at the Bronzong, and nodded to himself. 

“Lemons! Play Rough with your new friends!” He ordered, and Lemons cheered delightedly, charging between Gladiolus and Red, thrashing his tail around. Raihan’s eyes widened, and he whirled around to glower at the blond.

“What the _ hell _are you doing, Duraludons are Dragon-type!” He snarled. “Gladiolus, get the hell outta there!” 

Gladiolus winced, and threw Red and Lemons aside, diving away from them. The blond nodded determinedly. 

“I didn’t know that, but look at the Charizard!” 

Raihan and Leon looked at Red, and Leon lit up to see Red shaking his head of his confusion. Lemons’ trainer grinned widely. “He’s always had a knack for knocking folks awake when he plays rough with them. Go, go!”

“Just what I needed!” Leon nodded determinedly, and he looked at Raihan. “Let’s do it.”

His fiancé gave him a withering grin. “We’ve only ever done _ that _ a handful of times in the Battle Tower.”

Leon took his hand, and squeezed it. “A last hurrah together, before you go.”

Raihan’s grin widened, and he nodded. “Fine. Gladiolus!” His Duraludon nodded determinedly.

“Red!” Leon ordered, and Red chuffed in acknowledgement. 

“Lemons, hold that Bronzong still!” The blond ordered, grin wide in anticipation at what the two were going to do.

“Not if I can help it!” its trainer scoffed. “Bronzong, counter them all with Light Screen!” 

Lemons and Bronzong clashed together high above their heads, and Leon grinned. 

“That’s fine by us!” Leon nodded. “Red, Fire Blast!” 

“Gladiolus, Iron Head!” Raihan grinned, eyes wild as he thrust his hand and Leon’s into the air. “Get that Bronzong!”

Bronzong’s trainer’s eyes went wide as Gladiolus reared back, roaring powerfully as a sheen of light shone across his head. Red flew over him, and sent a blast of fire over him, Gladiolus’s iron-hard head glowing a bright white before he charged forward, slamming his superheated head against the Bronzong, making it flinch.

“Yes!” The blond cheered, jumping up and down as Lemons flew back away from the two Pokémon, looking as delighted as his trainer was. “That’s so _ cool!_”

“Red!” Leon grinned, thrusting his hand out at the Bronzong. “Finish it off with another Fire Blast!” 

Red let out a mighty roar as he sent a column of fire at the Bronzong, scorching it terribly before it dropped to the ground with a loud _ clang. _Leon and Raihan glowered at the Team Rocket grunts, who looked around nervously before attempting to run—

When they were blocked by Galar police with Arcanine and Corviknight units, ready to arrest them. Leon heaved a sigh of relief as the crowd around them burst into cheers and applause, and he smiled at them, Raihan also grinning widely as he waved their Pokémon over. Gladiolus and Red headed over to them, cuddling close to their trainers, and Leon laughed fondly as Red rubbed his snout against his cheek. 

“Chairman Leon, if I could have a moment?” one of the police officers began, approaching Leon, and the long-haired man nodded, turning to start giving his statement to him.

Raihan gently petted Gladiolus, turning around to see that the blond trainer was currently cuddling his Raichu, burying his face into his soft, tubby tummy. Raihan grinned fondly, and shrugged before approaching him.

He held his hand out at the blond for him to shake, and the smaller man blinked up at him. 

“You did great out there. Your partner was fantastic, too. Thanks for waking up Red when we needed him most.” He said, and the smaller man lit up, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

“You two were amazing.” He breathed. “Leader Raihan, was it? The grunt said your name.”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “I specialise in Dragon-type Pokémon. This is my partner, Gladiolus the Duraludon.” 

“I’ve never seen a Duraludon before.” The blond breathed, staring wide-eyed at Gladiolus. The Duraludon lowered his head, slightly sheepish, and Raihan chuckled fondly, pressing a little kiss to his temple. “Oh, and I’m Sena, by the way. I specialise in Electric-type Pokémon, but most of my team’s in that trolley over there.” He gestured at the trolley the Team Rocket grunts were trying to do away with, and Raihan nodded sagely. “I know you’ve already met, but this is Lemons, the Alolan Raichu.”

Lemons cooed happily, and snuggled up close to Raihan, who chuckled fondly as the cuddly little Raichu rubbed his cheek against his. He jumped when he felt a little shock between them, but then a sweet smell wafted off the Pokémon, and he grinned slightly.

“Wow, he smells like pancakes.” He said, and Sena beamed.

“Alolan Raichu love Alolan pancakes!” Sena replied. “That’s why they smell like them all the time. Guess that’s why they’re sweeter—_and chunkier!_—than Kantonian Raichu.”

“Certainly nicer than most Raichu I’ve seen.” Raihan watched as Lemons hurried back to Sena to cuddle him, and his trainer giggled brightly. “You’ve made a great partnership with him.”

“Thanks,” Sena smiled. “Looks like it paid off, too. I just got here, and things are already pretty crazy. Can’t imagine what else Galar has to offer!” 

“I’m sure you’ll get your team back soon.” Raihan nodded. “But since you’re a trainer, I think you’re a little too late for the Gym Challenge season, if that’s what you’re up to here in Galar.” 

“Oh, no. I’m not here to join the Gym Challenge as a competitor.” Sena beamed at him. “Actually, I have to go see my uncle Kabu for more details about it, but I’m meeting with a friend first.”

“Uncle Kabu?” Raihan blinked at him. “You’re our new Electric-type Gym Leader, then.”

“Yeah.” Sena nodded. “Uncle Kabu said something about the Gym Challenge and ranking, and stuff, but I couldn’t understand a thing. I suppose I’ll get the whole story from him when we meet.” 

Raihan found himself smiling. “Well, your battle style is definitely interesting. Might even be the breath of fresh air Galar needed in the Gym Challenge.”

“Aw, shucks.” Sena chuckled, and peered at Leon eagerly. “Hey, he’s really something, isn’t he?” He asked, grinning. “Gorgeous, _ and _an excellent Pokémon trainer and strategist! He’s a full package—do you think you could introduce us?”

All amicable feelings Raihan had for Sena flew out the window, and he scowled. 

“He’s my boyfriend.” He deadpanned, and Sena turned bright red.

“Oh. _ Oh, _ that—that explains a lot. I am so, so sorry.” He stammered, “He—uh. Oh, hello!” He squeaked, and Raihan raised an eyebrow at him. He turned around to see Leon had come back to him, his head cocked. There were two plastic bags hanging from Leon’s wrist that had a few berries inside them, and beside him, Red was already chewing happily on one of the berries. 

“Hey.” Leon greeted, and he nodded at Sena. “Detective Robin said this is for you.” He handed one of the plastic bags to the blond—the one with less berries in it, but before Sena could take it, Lemons was already happily diving into the bag, heading straight for the sweet berries. Leon chuckled fondly as Sena laughed nervously, but he took the bag from him, berries, Raichu and all. “The police would like to have your statement, too, since you saw how this whole incident started.”

Sena peered at Raihan, who gave him an easy shrug. 

“You’d better get going,” he said. “They’ve got your team too, so I suggest you go and get them.”

“R-right!” Sena nodded, and gave Leon an embarrassed smile. “I—I gotta go. It was nice meeting you both!” He said, giving them a wave before he hurried towards the little group of policemen that Leon had been talking to. Red took the bag of berries from Leon to hold it open for Gladiolus to look into, and Leon left the two Pokémon to sort themselves out. Gladiolus couldn’t quite feed himself berries properly, but Red was used to helping take care of the dragon, anyway.

Leon gave Raihan a bemused look when his own dragon huffed at Sena’s retreating back, and he crossed his arms.

“What’d you do to the poor man, Raihan?” He asked fondly, and Raihan pouted at him. “Rai, c’mon now.”

“He was _ flirting _ with you.” Raihan said petulantly. “How was I _ not _supposed to get territorial?”

“Oh, come off it. He was probably just being nice.” Leon rolled his eyes, and his dragon sulked. “Rai, c’mon. Give me a smile before you go.” 

Raihan shook his head exasperatedly, but he did stop pouting, at least. Leon smiled at that, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Good boy.” He said fondly, and handed Raihan his luggage. “I guess we’d better get going.” 

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed, and looked at his watch. “At least we arrived early enough to have time for a freaking _ Pokémon battle._” He took Leon’s hand, rolling his eyes.

Leon shrugged, and looked at their Pokémon, who had quickly managed to finish the bag of berries. He smiled fondly when he saw Red put the bag into the bin, before turning to look at his trainer. 

“Back in you two go,” Leon said, holding up his Pokéball, but his expression softened on them when Red looked at Gladiolus, and pulled the Duraludon into a hug, groaning softly. Gladiolus whined, hugging Red back, and Leon and Raihan watched fondly as the two Pokémon held each other for a long time, before pulling apart. 

“We’re gonna miss them a lot, aren’t we?” Raihan asked, and Gladiolus nodded gingerly. “Yeah. It’s gonna be a long time, but we’ll get through it. C’mon, buddy.” 

He held up Gladiolus’s ball, and the Duraludon lowered his head obediently, leaning forward to press the lock of the Pokéball and putting himself back inside it. Red looked sadly at Gladiolus’s ball, and Leon petted his snout comfortingly.

“They’ll be back.” He said reassuringly, and Red nodded. “Come back in your ball, Red.” He said, and put him back into his Pokéball. The two trainers sighed, and Raihan gave Leon a sad little grin. 

“Ready?” He asked, and his fiancé nodded gingerly. He squeezed Leon’s hand reassuringly, and together, they began walking towards the airport in companionable silence, but as they walked out of the station and into the departure hall, he took a shaky breath. “Raihan?”

“Yeah, Lee?” Raihan asked, and he led Leon past the line dividing the check-in counters and the lobby. 

“Honestly, I’m really happy we got to do that before you left.” Leon smiled up at him, and Raihan’s chest ached at the sight of tears welling up in Leon’s eyes. “I just—it’s—” he stuttered, as tears began rolling down his cheeks, and Raihan stopped the both of them before they arrived at the check-in counter, cupping Leon’s face in his hands, thumbing away at the tear tracks as Leon hiccuped softly. “I’m happy Red got to say goodbye to Gladdie. They’ve been friends for so long.”

“Almost as long as we’ve known each other, yeah.” Raihan nodded. “I’m sure Gladiolus is happy to have had a double… _ ish, _ battle with Red one last time before we left.” 

“Y-yeah.” Leon sniffled, and laughed gingerly. “Also… I don’t think I’m allowed to see you off here.”

“I’m sure Macro Cosmos’s Galar Airways would let its Chairman Leon say his goodbyes in here.” Raihan chuckled, pressing a kiss to Leon’s forehead. “I love you, Leon. I’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I love you too.” Leon said shakily, and his heart swelled at the sight of Raihan’s eyes tearing up too. He pulled him close into a hug, and Raihan held him tightly, squeezing Leon for a long, painful time. Neither of them wanted to let go, but Raihan eventually pulled away from their hug. Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Raihan moved forward again to kiss him deeply, and Leon sighed against his lips, wrapping his arms around the back of Raihan’s neck to pull him closer. They parted for air, looking into each other’s eyes, and Raihan gave Leon a tender smile. 

“I guess this is it.” He said, and finally pulled away from Leon completely. 

“This is it.” Leon replied faintly, but he suddenly jumped. “Oh, by the way.” He said, his cheeks flushing as he pulled out a little slip of paper from his coat’s inside breast pocket. “This is yours.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked at him, and hesitantly took the paper to inspect it. His eyes widened to see it was a first class ticket. “Wait… I booked a business class flight?”

“I… I asked around and had you booked a better seat on the flight.” Leon said, and Raihan gaped at him. “Sorry. I just… I wanted… um.”

Raihan blinked at him. “Lee.”

“Y-yeah?”

His fiancé grinned at him slowly, and he shook his head fondly. “You really _ are _my sugar daddy, aren’t you?” 

Leon spluttered at that, and Raihan burst out laughing. Leon fell quiet, enthralled at the sight of Raihan’s smile, and when Raihan managed to calm down, he leaned up to kiss him gently. 

“I’ll wait, however long it takes, Raihan.” He said, and Raihan smiled at him, stroking his cheek. “I know you’ll do great, future Champion.”

“I’ll beat you someday, I swear it.” Raihan nodded, and his grin widened. “Our marriage kinda depends on it.” 

“You know I’ll marry you, Champion or not.” Leon chuckled fondly. “Goodbye, Raihan.”

“Bye, Leon.” Raihan smiled, squeezing his fiancé’s hands. “Don’t forget our promise.”

“I won’t.” Leon shook his head, and reluctantly let Raihan’s hands go, watching him head to the first class check-in counter. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, unmindful of how many people were watching their exchange, unmindful of how many cameras had been pointed at them since they entered the airport, and he felt a rush of emotions surging in him.

“Raihan!” He couldn’t stop himself from calling out his name as he passed the check-in counter, and Raihan jumped, looking at him with wide eyes. Leon’s eyes sparkled with love as it overflowed in his heart, and he couldn’t wipe his smile off his lips. Was this how Raihan felt, with his devil-may-care attitude about the press, saying what he felt was right and doing what he wanted without worrying too much about the consequences? 

“Leon?” Raihan breathed.

“I love you!” He called from across the hall, and Raihan’s surprise melted away into joy. “I love you so much, my Champion!”

Raihan beamed at him, and struck him his Charizard pose, making Leon laugh breathlessly. 

“I’ll be back!” he called, and the airport crowd burst into cheers as he waved Leon goodbye, heading into the departure hall.

Leon pressed his hand to his fluttering heart, and he couldn’t stop smiling.

For Raihan, he thought, he would be brave. It would be the least he could do for Raihan, who had done the same for him since years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > people who’ve read my P5 casino au will remember Sena Hifune. anyway guess who’s back for another round of yahoo this time in the Galar region with his (banned) pardner Alolan Raichu, Lemons [pic.twitter.com/BQkO2OlYUO](https://t.co/BQkO2OlYUO)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 👑 ダンデさん @ 2/16 !!🌟 (@trickscd) [January 10, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1215517658679926784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> <strike>sike i know it's valentines</strike>
> 
> "who the fuck is sena" he's [this asshole](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/902112907634253824) i've had since persona 5. yes i reuse ocs. no i don't think it's funny either. i'm sorry he's obnoxious, i am too, you all should know that by now


	9. Separation Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want every single trainer in Galar to be able to battle to their best ability. No one deserves to get their Pokémon partners torn away from them, no matter what the reason.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > unfortunately, the sea between us has hit 50k. [pic.twitter.com/HZl2AFgKeF](https://t.co/HZl2AFgKeF)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [February 26, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1232667150801723393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> yes. and the plot's only just getting started....
> 
> also god i am so sorry. i can't answer comments from the previous chapter rn but thank you all for the support so far ;; i'm not ungrateful, i'm just really sad right now

Honestly, Leon thought that saying goodbye to Raihan would end in waterworks, like how Sonia’s favourite dramas went on TV. He was expecting to need a Flying Taxi out of the airport, dissolved in tears and unable to walk properly, but instead, he felt like he was on cloud nine. 

He felt like he was walking on air, really, all-smiles and feeling lighter than ever, emboldened by his outburst at the airport lobby earlier, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the coming year, when Raihan came back, and they could finally get married, Raihan’s first victory against Leon in a decade or no.

Leon was still smiling and waving at fans and people who came to see him and Raihan off, or just passers-by, but that all came to a screeching halt when he came to the station.

The blond trainer—he’d forgotten to ask Raihan for his name, what a shame—was still there, arguing with some police officers. Leon frowned, cocking his head, and he began to head there—when they pushed past the blond, holding two Pokéballs as they headed out. Much to his surprise, the blond hurried after them. 

“Please!” He begged, “Please, just—they’re not here to breed, I promise! Please, just give them back! I need my partner—Lemons is my ace!” the blond looked close to tears, and Leon’s eyes widened. “Please, we have a tournament in a week, I can’t do it without my partner!” 

The taller officer blocked the blond from his partner, who was carrying—the blond’s, presumably—Pokéballs, shaking his head. “Sorry, kid. It’s Galar law to quarantine non-native Pokémon species. Your Emolga and Alolan Raichu have to go.”

“But—but—” The blond protested, “I _ told _you, they’re tame! They’re not gonna breed, they’re here to compete! I still have to qualify for the Gym Challenge next year!”

Leon’s eyes widened. The blond was here to qualify for the Gym Challenge? “Wait—” he began, but the officers pushed past the blond, and left. They left Lemons’ trainer standing there, looking bereft, and he dropped himself onto a waiting bench, looking lost. His luggage—also in a yellow suitcase, go figure—was on the ground next to him, and Leon’s heart ached at the sight of a large sticker of an Alolan Raichu surfing on its tail, carrying with it stacks on stacks of thick, fluffy pancakes. 

He deflated at the sight of the trainer sitting glumly by himself, and headed over to a nearby vending machine to pick up a Lemonade. Leon gingerly approached the blond, and cleared his throat.

“Hey.” He said, and the blond looked up at him.

“Oh…” He said gingerly, and looked at Leon’s proffered Lemonade. “It’s Mr. Beautiful…” Leon chuckled at that, and pressed the can into his hand. “Oh…” he said again, and smiled tiredly. “Thanks.”

“It’s Leon.” Leon said, and the blond cocked his head at him. “My name. It’s Leon.” He offered his hand for him to shake, and the younger man nodded, shaking his hand.

“Yeah—uh. Sorry, I don’t think we ever got to introduce ourselves to each other.” He chuckled tiredly. “I’m Sena.” 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Leon nodded, and looked at where the police officers left. “I’m sorry about your Pokémon.” He said softly, “Galar has strict environmental laws that quarantine non-native Pokémon, regardless of its purpose for coming here.”

“Yeah, but _ why?_” Sena asked, “I don’t _ get it, _ my chances at qualifying for the Gym Challenge have been completely dashed, now, without my ace.” He looked down at the Lemonade in his hands, and sighed. “Uncle Kabu asked me to come here because he was confident that I could lead my own Gym and participate in the Challenge.”

“Uncle… Kabu?” Leon blinked. “You’re Kabu’s nephew?” 

“Yeah.” Sena sniffled. “We used to live together in Hoenn, and then I migrated to Alola to train.” He looked up at Leon, cocking his head. “You know Uncle Kabu?”

“I…” Leon bit his lip. “Sena, I’m the League Chairman.” He said, and Sena’s eyes widened. 

“Then, can you do something about Lemons?” He asked eagerly. “Mr. Chairman, please—Lemons is my ace, I gotta get him back before the tournament!”

Leon hesitated, and he deflated somewhat. The hope that rose in Sena’s eyes quickly diminished, and he slumped back in his seat. “Or… you can’t?” 

“I’m sorry, Sena. I don’t have power over that.” He said, and Sena sighed. “I’m really sorry, but you’ll have to find a substitute for Lemons and your Emolga so you have a fighting chance in the Gym Ranking Tournament.”

Sena’s expression crumbled. “I have no idea where to even _ start._”

“You could ask your uncle.” Leon said, and dug around his pockets to pull out some cash. “Get some Pokéballs at the Pokémon Centre.”

He held out the cash to Sena, who blinked at him in surprise. “I’m really sorry this happened to you, but you mustn’t get discouraged.” He said. “Sena, you have to keep fighting. For Lemons.”

Sena gingerly took the money, and nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”

Leon patted his shoulder. “I’m doing my best to restore the National Pokédex to the Galar region. Maybe you won’t be long without Lemons.” Sena looked up at him hopefully. “I made a promise to Raihan, and I intend on keeping it.” He nodded. “Not just for his sake, but for you—and every other trainer who’d been forced to stay apart from their partner because of our wildlife laws.”

“You’re kind, Mr. Chairman.” Sena said quietly. “I’m… really grateful.”

Leon smiled sheepishly. “Truth be told, I’m not exactly sure where to start.”

“Oh,” Sena sat up. “Well, Alola had pretty strict environmental laws, too, but I think theirs ran in an opposite direction to Galar’s.” Leon blinked at him. “Have you heard of Professor Kukui?”

“Oh, I’ve met him before.” Leon lit up. “Do you think I should ask him?”

“Yeah,” Sena nodded enthusiastically. “I’m sure he can help point you in the right direction!”

“Thank you, Sena!” Leon nodded, jumping up onto his feet. “I’ll get to it right away!” He gave the blond a wide smile, and Sena beamed up at him. “I’ll be seeing you in the Gym Ranking Tournament?”

“Sure thing, Chairman!” Sena gave him a mock salute. “Do your best!”

“You too!” Leon waved at him, and hurried outside. 

He didn’t want to use the train anymore—he had something much faster, anyway. 

“Red!” He called, deploying his Charizard, and he roared powerfully as he emerged, stretching out his wings. He let Leon climb on his back, and he looked at his trainer expectantly. Leon patted his neck, nodding in determination. “Let’s go—to the Wedgehurst Pokémon Research Centre!”

* * *

Sena watched Leon rush away, and his smile faded as he slumped back in his seat. 

“Ah, I’d believe _ anything _a pretty face tells me.” He sighed, smiling sadly as he looked up at the Pokédollars Leon gave him. “I’m sure he means it—that he’s gonna try bringing Lemons back, but…”

His expression crumbled, and he buried his face in his hands. 

It was the first time in years he’d been apart from Lemons. He never imagined what that would even feel like, never thought he would ever experience that, at least, _ not yet, _but now there he was—forced to face separation for the first time in his life. 

He hated the feeling. 

“Have faith in him,” he said faintly as he curled up on the bench, beginning to sob quietly. “Have faith in Mr. Chairman. Have faith in Lemons. Everything’s—everything’s gonna be alright.”

Behind a trash bin, a curious little Pikachu with a heart-tail watched him cry, her little ears twitching as her heart twinged in sympathy. 

She cocked her head, wondering where that strange, soft balloon of a friend he had had gone, and began to pad softly over to him.

* * *

Leon really thought of everything, Raihan thought bemusedly, looking at the first class seat Leon had booked for him. There was enough space for three Pokémon partners, all with their own specialised Pokémon seats, and Raihan was in his own area in the first class cabin, to offer him privacy. The arrangement had Leon’s handiwork all over it—from the specific linen spray that Raihan liked on the seat, to the cushion firmness. Gladiolus’s seat had a foot-high wall around it and a felt interior to keep his steel exterior from getting scratched up. Gooms’s seat also had walls to keep her from soaking the cabin’s carpet, and it was made of a tough, lavender-coloured plastic. It also had a ribbed, cushy waterbed at the bottom, half-submerged in fresh water to keep her from drying out and slipping around. Darude’s seat was similar to most standard-fare large Pokémon perches, but it also came with a large cushion if he wanted to lie down. 

Leon’s love extended to him and his team, even all the way up in the sky. The flight to Sinnoh was going to take 15 hours, and Leon had made absolute damned sure that Raihan and his team would spend them in comfort. 

“This honestly feels a little excessive.” he’d said to the flight attendant who showed him to his… well, _ area, _and the young man chuckled fondly. 

“This was Chairman Leon’s spot when he was Champion.” He explained. “Mr. Rose had it made specially for Chairman Leon whenever they travelled, and he had some specifics changed to suit your team when he rebooked your flight.”

Raihan had felt a sense of draconic rage at the mention of Rose, an ugly feeling rising in his chest where his dragon blood was snarling that he could provide for Leon something even better, and Raihan had a sinking feeling that his rut was coming soon. 

Right now, though, cradling a glass of sparkling water—the kind Leon drank often, the kind Raihan personally hated, but he had it anyway to remind him of his fiancé—Raihan felt… content. 

Content to watch the clouds roll by, Darude’s head in his lap as the Flygon slept soundly on top of his cushion. 

He’d expected to end up losing his cool, either getting mad and giving up on leaving altogether or to just simply take Leon’s hand and drag him with him to Sinnoh. Instead, he left Galar with a wide smile, his homeland cheering for him like a hero off to war, and the sight and sound of Leon boldly—_publicly_—declaring his love for him in a way Raihan would never expect him to. 

He’d been prepared to make that spectacle, but as he passed the check in counter, his knees grew weak, his mind went blank and all he could focus on was that he was leaving. That this was it—that it was time to say goodbye to the love of his life, and to go off on his own in the world beyond Galar, beyond Leon. 

Where, for the first time in a decade, Raihan was just Pokémon Trainer Raihan, and he was truly, and utterly alone. 

Gooms made a little sound that made Raihan’s heart wrench, and he turned around to look at her. Her green eyes were trained on him, and he jumped when he saw them welling up with tears. Darude stirred awake with a little noise of protest, but he quickly went quiet when he saw Raihan. 

“Gooms, what’s wrong?” Raihan asked, but she reached out for him, pressing a cool, gooey paw to his cheek. Darude leaned up to lick at his face, crooning sadly, and Raihan’s eyes widened as he felt a tear roll down his face. 

“Oh.” He breathed faintly. “I’m…”

Gladiolus also whined, his metal coat creaking as he got up from his perch, stepping over his seat walls to get to him. Raihan laughed weakly as his oldest friend pushed between Darude and Gooms to hug Raihan tightly. Raihan clung onto the Duraludon, his hands balling into fists as the memory of him as a child, in a tent in the Wild Area and suffering through agonising growing pains and aching loneliness, came rushing back to him. 

“Oh, I’m hopeless.” He said shakily as the rest of his team cuddled close to him. “Not even an hour away from Leon, and I’m already crying like a baby.”

Gooms kissed his cheek, whining softly. 

“I know, girl.” Raihan nodded. “I get lonely easily, even with you guys with me.”

As a child, it had always only been Raihan and Gladiolus—the dragon that hatched from the egg incubated under the bed of every heir of Hammerlocke. His mother was always out carrying out her duties with his father, the old Duke of Hammerlocke, and Raihan was left at home in the castle, his Duraludon named by his family the only semblance of a family he ever had. Initially, his venture into the sport of Pokémon battling was an act of defiance against his birthright—picking up a little baby Trapinch from the in-house nursery and running away from home to sign himself up for the Gym Challenge. He’d had his shortcomings in the beginning, and the path to his professional career started off on a road less taken, but he grew to love it. 

He worked to become a candidate for Hammerlocke Stadium’s Gym Leader of his own merit, and the moment he was of the age to lead it, he was granted the position. 

Gladiolus was there with him from the very beginning. Every heir of Hammerlocke was to be taught how to battle with their Pokémon partner, as was tradition, and the Duraludon was a most prized present for the young heir—bred from only the finest brood stock, Raihan’s grandmother bestowed him the name that exuded the strength he beheld. 

Gladiolus, the flower of strength. A dragon befitting the first Dragon-type secondary typed human of Galarian nobility. 

But even then—not Gladiolus, nor Darude, nor Gooms could compare to companionship with another person. They bore witness to Raihan’s long, lonely nights, failed relationships and toxic one night stands, trying to navigate his second puberty—until finally, Leon.

Raihan’s team loved Leon. And now, bereft of such a wonderful human for their own human, they could only hope their companionship and efforts would suffice. 

Gooms was getting him wet, and Gladiolus’s edges were biting into his skin. Darude’s scales were cold despite the meagre temperature in his space in the cabin, but Raihan held on. 

They were his dearest friends. They would be enough to help weather the storm of separation. 

“Hey,” he said, laughing quietly as Darude licked off the last of his tears. “Who wants Pokéfood?”

His team let out cheers of agreement, and Raihan beamed at them. 

“I love you guys.” He said quietly. “I hope you know that.”

They do, and they love him just as much. Gladiolus took Raihan’s free hand as he rang up a flight attendant with the other. 

When they eventually get to Sinnoh, he hoped, their new family member would make Raihan even happier.

* * *

“Oh!” 

The little egg in her arms wiggled, and Cynthia smiled fondly. Rowan stopped in the middle of his speech at her outburst, but when he saw it wiggle in her arms again, he couldn’t help but smile, too. 

“It seems your Garchomp’s egg is quite lively, isn’t it!” He commented, nodding at the egg, and Cynthia hummed, nodding as she stroked it gently. “Do you have an idea of when it’ll hatch?”

“In the coming week,” she replied. “Just in time for my new guest to meet it.”

“Ah, yes. That Trainer Raihan, was it?” Rowan asked bemusedly, turning back to his computer. “His departure from Galar is all over the news. Apparently the young man had enough time for a Pokémon battle before he left!”

“That does sound like the Raihan I met a few years ago.” She chuckled. “I’m glad to hear he’s still in high spirits before he left.”

“Oh, definitely. He won’t be staying long here in Sinnoh, will he?”

“Yes.” Cynthia got up from her seat with a huff. “After all, he’s got someone to come home to. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to go storming off into someone’s Gym on his first day here!”

Rowan laughed into his fist, and nodded at her. 

“I hope you won’t let him,” he said, and Cynthia shook her head. 

“Of course not! For one thing, he’d be jet lagged. I’d been to Galar myself for Worlds, I’d know what it’s like!” She scoffed. “He’ll gain nothing from rushing into the gym challenge headfirst, and without his Gible, too!”

“Sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it?” He asked, and she sighed exasperatedly, but gave him a fond smile.

“Raihan and I had very different reasons to throw ourselves into the Pokémon League, Professor.” Cynthia said, and the man shook his head fondly. 

“Oh, of course. But the spirit is all the same.” He gave her a little wink, and Cynthia’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “I’m almost certain you took him in because he reminded you of yourself when you were younger.”

“Reading people like a book is a skill reserved for Psychic-types, Professor.” Cynthia laughed fondly, and Rowan laughed with her. 

“I suppose, I suppose!” He nodded. “Now, do hurry on home so your Garchomp can get some rest. Don’t forget the medicine Calla gave you.”

“Thank you,” Cynthia nodded, and headed out the door. She looked down at the egg in her arms, giggling softly as it wiggled again, and petted it gently. “I’m sure you’re excited to meet Raihan, baby. Just be a little bit more patient, alright?”

It wiggled one more time, as if in agreement, and she nodded contentedly. 

“That’s right.” She said softly, “You’ll meet your new trainer soon, and I’m sure he’ll make your life the happiest life a Pokémon like you can live.”

* * *

“Leon, you realise it’ll be…” Sonia squinted at her watch, and gave up. “We’re 10 hours ahead of Alola. What time will it be there, uh…”

“5 AM.” Hop said, glancing at his watch, and he gave his brother a fond smile. “Maybe wait a few more hours?”

“I just…” Leon said hesitantly. “I need to talk to Professor Kukui.”

“What’s that all about?” Sonia asked, crossing her arms. “What’s the rush?”

“Today, I saw Raihan off at the airport.” Leon said, and Sonia and Hop nodded. 

“Yeah, it was all over the news online.” Hop said. “The two of you were fantastic! And the new guy was pretty interesting, too.”

“Right, you see—that new guy,” Leon nodded. “That’s Sena. He’s apparently Kabu’s nephew. The new Electric-type Gym Leader.”

“Oh!” Sonia blinked. “And here I thought he worked with Psychic-types. That Pokémon he had with him—it could use Psychic!”

“His partner was an Alolan Raichu. Apparently, his ace, just like Red is to me.” Leon explained. “It’s Electric/Psychic—I looked it up on my way here, Hop, you can put your phone down.”

Hop blew him a raspberry, but put his phone down. 

“What I mean to say is,” Leon continued. “Half of Sena’s team got quarantined at Hilldon Station, and they were confiscated from him.” His expression tightened as his hands balled into fists. “And if we don’t do anything about it, that could cost him the Gym Ranking Tournament.”

His gaze dropped to the ground. “What kind of League Chairman would I be if I let that happen?”

Sonia and Hop’s expressions fell, and Sonia reached forward to squeeze Leon’s hand. 

“I want every single trainer in Galar to be able to battle to their best ability. No one deserves to get their Pokémon partners torn away from them, no matter what the reason.”

“Leon,” Sonia said quietly. “If I may, I think it was better for Sena to lose his partner at Hilldon than at the Gym Ranking tournament.”

Leon gaped at her, and she shook her head. 

“Of course, he doesn’t deserve to lose half of his team just like that, but don’t you think it would have been better for him to have been discovered now than later?” She asked. “If he’d brought his Raichu out during the ranking tournament, he’d not only get disqualified from the tournament, but he’d also get arrested.”

Leon’s eyes widened. 

“That’s possession and use of contraband Pokémon species.” Hop said. “Even if you_ did _get Sena’s team back to him, you would disqualify him from the tournament altogether.”

Leon blinked at his little brother, who blushed in embarrassment. 

“Sorry, Gloria and I took a look at League regulations when they worked with Cara Liss to make death—uh, Vic’s Dracovish.”

“Cara Liss.” Sonia scowled. 

Leon bit his lip, and looked down at the table they sat at. 

“So, damned if we don’t, damned if we did.” He said gravely, and Hop nodded. “Sena…”

“I’m sorry, Lee.” Hop sighed. “Sena will just have to find new Pokémon to compete with.”

Leon sighed, and nodded. 

“Also, Victor named their Dracovish _ Death?_” Sonia blinked. 

“If you really want to start working on Galarian wildlife laws, I suggest asking your assistant to help you. Maybe she’s got some idea on where to start looking.” Hop crossed his arms. “Sonia and I will handle talking to Professor Kukui.”

“I suppose I can,” Leon nodded, getting up from his seat to head out, when Hop’s hand shot up to squeeze his brother’s wrist. “Hop?”

“_Tomorrow._” Hop said. “It’s the _ weekend. _Go home, get some sleep, go camping with your Pokémon.” He gave Leon a kind smile. “Raihan left you the rest of his team, didn’t he?”

Leon looked crestfallen. “But…”

“Miss Ricki isn’t paid to work weekends, Lee.” Hop chuckled. “Wait until tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Leon huffed, and Hop beamed at him. “I… I’ll go do that.” He said hesitatingly, and tried to smile at Hop. “Thanks, Hop.”

“Anytime.” He nodded, “We’ll text you immediately when we hear from Professor Kukui.” Hop gave his brother a mock salute, and Leon gave him a faint smile. “Promise me you’ll be okay, Lee?”

“Yeah,” Leon said hesitantly, and sniffled lightly. “I’ll… I’ll be okay.”

He turned on his heel, and strode out of the lab, bearing Sonia and Hop’s worried glances on his back as he left. He hailed a Flying Taxi this time—not wanting to tire Red out too much—and when the Corviknight set his carriage down, he gave the cabbie a tired smile as she gave him a friendly tip of her hat. 

“Where to, Chairman?” She asked. 

“Hammerlocke Castle.” Leon said, and she nodded sympathetically. “And please—do land me on the roof, if that’s alright.”

“For you, Chairman—anything.”

Leon nodded, stepping into the taxi as the cabbie got onto her Corviknight before they shot off the ground with a mighty cry. When they were in the air, Leon pulled out his phone, and began to call a familiar contact, a sad smile on his face.

* * *

“Villea, I’m sorry I called on such short notice.”

“Nonsense, Chairman Leon, it’s always wonderful to see you.”

The elderly woman that had been Raihan’s governess gave him a smile as Leon strode out of the lift, and Leon gave her a faint smile as he took her proffered hand. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze, and together they walked down the corridors of Hammerlocke Castle’s in-house nursery. One of the corridors had a wall of windows that opened into the stadium, and Leon found himself smiling at the sight of Marnie and her Gym Trainers at work on the pitch. 

“I see Marnie’s taking to Hammerlocke well.”

“Yes,” Villea chuckled fondly. “She’s already being called the Dark Princess of Hammerlocke.”

“She’ll definitely be embarrassed to hear that.” Leon laughed, and Villea nodded. “The residents of Spikemuth are comfortable, I hope?”

“Oh, certainly. There were some who opted to move in with relatives in other parts of Galar or other regions, but most residents have moved in. There’s spare rooms in the upper floors, though of course, we’ve kept Duchess Odora’s rooms and His Grace’s rooms vacant.”

“The upper floors?” Leon asked. Villea laughed into her hand. 

“Many of them prefer the renovated dungeons.” She said, and Leon laughed in surprise. 

“Oh, of course.” He shook his head fondly, and they came to a stop at a familiar door. “How about the castle staff?”

“Most of us have moved to the castle along Route 5.” Villea smiled. “I only stayed here for the babies, as His Grace instructed.”

“Ah, I see.” Leon nodded, and opened the door for Villea, gesturing for her to get in first with a smile. The old woman gave him a nod and strode in, turning on the lights in her wake. Leon made his way over to the side door, tapping a code into the keypad on the wall, and when the door it locked slid open, the babies behind it came rushing out. 

Darude’s two Trapinches, their three other Trapinch friends, and the four Goomies crowded Leon, crying out excitedly, and Leon laughed as he saw Raihan’s Sandaconda—Sandie, creatively named by a 6-year-old Hop—slither after them at a slow pace befitting of his old age. He knelt down to let the Trapinches climb over him, laughing as he felt the Goomies crawl over his back, and Villea laughed fondly as she gave Sandie a pet. 

“Everyone’s doing well.” He said, and she nodded, gesturing at the door they came in from. 

“The others are over here.” She said, and Leon nodded, picking up all the Goomies as he gently put the Trapinches down to let them scuttle along after him. Sandie brought up the rear at a more sedate pace, a Trapinch on his back. Leon followed Villea through the door to realise that it was a long corridor, and at the end of it was a doorway that led to a large hall with several Pokémon beds and nests along the walls, large and comfortable, with only four of them occupied by different species of mothers curled up in them. 

Leon smiled when he saw a Flygon curled up on her perch, a little smile on her mouth as she slept. There was a Goodra getting up from her waterbed to get some Pokéfood from a dispenser nearby, and beside her, a Tyranitar slept next to her lone newly-hatched Larvitar, who was chewing on one of her spikes. Its eyes were still closed, and it wiggled precariously in her arms, so Leon gently pushed it back to safety. He lit up when he saw his Haxorus napping with two eggs, and he approached her quietly, holding a finger to his lips as if to tell her eggs to keep quiet. They wiggled gently in her hold, but the Haxorus didn’t wake. He smiled fondly as he looked her over, and he turned to look at Villea as she stood next to him. 

“How’s Calanthe?” He asked. 

“She’s had two very wiggly eggs, they’ll be strong Axews when they hatch.” Villea nodded. “The Hammerlocke broodstock blood runs strong.”

The Trapinches all hurried to their mother, cooing delightedly, and the Goomies jumped off Leon’s back to the Goodra, who lit up at the sight of her babies. Sandie finally reached Leon’s side, and the young man smiled fondly, giving him a few affectionate scratches on top of his head. The Sandaconda cooed happily, and Leon chuckled fondly. 

“That’s good.” He nodded. “Where’s… oh, buddy.”

Leon and Villea watched Raihan’s Gigalith scuttle across the nursery, a Larvitar totting along behind it. He crossed in front of Leon, who picked up the Larvitar with a gentle huff, and made his way over to the far wall of the nursery, where a Flygon lay sleeping on an old cushion at the foot of a statue. He jumped when he saw Sandie slithering after it, and he watched as the two Pokémon settled down next to the Flygon.

“His Grace’s Gigalith and Sandaconda have been very kind to the late Duke’s Flygon as of late.” Villea said, offering to take the Larvitar from Leon’s arms, but the young man shook his head, holding the baby close to his chest. She nodded gracefully, and stood back. “I think they know it is nearly his time.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Leon nodded, watching Sandie curl around the Flygon’s neck. “Sandie, too. He’s very old, isn’t he?” Gently, he pulled his hair away from the curious little baby in his arms to keep it from chewing on it. 

“Certainly. His Grace’s Sandaconda has lived well past the species’ life expectancy. He has lived a long, happy life by the Duke’s side.”

“Yeah.” Leon murmured, nodding. “He has.”

“Will you be alright here, sir?” Villea asked, “If you’d like, I can have a cushion brought over.”

“No, it’s fine. I won’t take long.” Leon nodded at Calanthe, who was still fast asleep. “My girl’s still asleep anyway, and I wouldn’t know if these girls would let me stay with their babies for too long.”

“Very well.” Villea nodded. “Good night, Chairman.”

“Good night, Villea.” Leon nodded, and watched the old woman walk away. He looked down at the Larvitar in his arms, and smiled as it cocked its head at him. “Hey there, little baby,” he cooed softly, and it reached up at him, giggling. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

The Larvitar let out a happy little growl, and Leon looked up to see its mother had woken up, getting up from her cushion to head towards them, holding her even younger Larvitar. Leon gave her a sweet smile as he met her halfway, gently handing her her other baby before following them to the communal water trough, where she leaned down to take a drink.

“I wonder what it’s like for you,” He murmured, watching her expertly handle two squirmy Larvitar in her hands as she drank. The Tyranitar looked at him, cocking her head in confusion, and Leon laughed gingerly. “Not being with a partner. I almost can’t imagine it.”

The Tyranitar seemed to consider him for a moment, and sighed, sitting down by the trough—well, _ fountain, _more like—and let her Larvitar stand on the ground. Leon watched her fondly, and laughed when he saw that the Goodra had apparently taken the opportunity to leave her babies in the water, so four turgid little Goomies jumped up and surprised the only Larvitar that could see. He watched them chase each other around near the fountain as the Goodra climbed out of the water, sitting down next to Leon and rubbing their cheeks together. 

“Hey.” He greeted softly, and the Goomies left the Larvitar alone to pull the Trapinches with them to get closer to Leon. He beamed at the babies as they approached him, and they all climbed over him, eagerly cuddling close or—as in the instance of the Larvitar who trotted over to him haughtily—chewing on his hair. 

“Babies! Don’t!” He giggled brightly as he wrangled with the baby Pokémon to keep them from wrecking his hair, and he felt someone pull away the Trapinch that was already chewing on a lock of his hair. “Thanks, Rai—”

He stopped himself, turning to realise it’d been the Flygon Darude mated with who pulled her baby off him, and he smiled sadly. “Oh.” He said, and she leaned forward to lick at his cheek comfortingly. “Thanks, girl.”

He could remember the last time he was here—it had been with Raihan, and that was when he got the first inkling of the thought that maybe Raihan was thinking of proposing. 

“_Babe, you look fantastic with babies._” Raihan had said at the time, Rotom camera pointed at Leon positively _ covered _ in dragon babies, “_I bet the little Champ’s Charmander will be the best of the lot, since it’s Red’s!_”

Leon didn’t think much of it then, not even as Raihan started hinting about settling down and raising dragon babies together, and now, thinking about it as he sat alone with Pokémon as Raihan got further and further away from him, he felt his eyes prickling with tears.

“Do you think…” he began, and the mothers—save Calanthe, who was presumably still asleep—looked at him kindly. “If I’d just… asked earlier, he would never have left?”

The Goodra took his hand gently, and Leon looked down at her paw, thinking forlornly about how Gooms would take Raihan’s hand if either of them were upset to calm each other down. 

“I know I should be happy that Raihan is chasing his dream, but…” He squeezed the Goodra’s paw. “I’m lonely.” 

She crooned sadly, and he nodded, leaning against her side, and the other two mothers came over to him to cuddle close as well. He sighed, and held them close while their babies made sounds of curiosity, and he jumped when he heard footsteps, his eyes welling with tears to see Calanthe had woken up, and was making her way over to him. She wiggled in between the Tyranitar and the Flygon to hug her trainer, and he hugged her back tightly, thinking back to the time when Raihan had handed her to him as a bitey little Axew from this very nursery he was sitting in.

“I’m gonna miss him,” Leon said faintly. “Oh, Arceus. I’m gonna miss Raihan so much.”

Calanthe nodded, cuddling him with a low, comforting growl, and he clung onto her. 

“I thought… I thought I wasn’t going to cry.” He said faintly. “But I guess… I guess I am.”

She purred reassuringly, and Leon shuddered. Calanthe rubbed his back, and Leon couldn’t hold it back, not anymore—

He burst into tears, clinging to his Pokémon, and the other mothers joined in the hug, holding him close as if he was their own as he let it all out. 

The dragons of Hammerlocke loved their humans, their dragon-like human especially so. The king of their castle shared the blood that ran in their veins, the same blood that bowed their heads in submission to his might. They knew their king’s heart belonged to a lovely young man, and they knew to protect their king, they should protect his heart. 

The dragons of Hammerlocke loved their humans, and in the hour of loneliness, they loved Leon, the tamer of Hammerlocke’s dragon king, most of all, and so they held him there, until the storm of separation could peter out, at least for another time of respite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as a recap:
> 
> Raihan's team:  
\- Gladiolus the Duraludon  
\- Gooms the Goodra  
\- Darude the Flygon  
\- Sandie the Sandaconda (wanna see a cute hc? [look over here](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1216603270480683008)!)  
\- [REDACTED] the Turtonator  
\- [REDACTED] the Gigalith  
\- [REDACTED] the Garchomp
> 
> Leon's team:  
\- Red the Charizard  
\- Achilles the Aegislash (you can thank [Twitter](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1230124187743711233) for this one!)  
\- Calanthe the Haxorus  
\- [REDACTED] the... everyone else.


	10. New Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I miss you already, Lee. I love you."
> 
> “Don’t forget—I’m cheering you on, every step of the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > h  
  
shhhhh he slep [pic.twitter.com/dNAlVRuLYD](https://t.co/dNAlVRuLYD)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 3, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1234839463836020741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> \- raihan's social media feed, probably
> 
> _shrugs_ i deal with burnout badly. please do not calculate how much i've written in 2020 alone

Raihan’s plane touched down at exactly 6:07 PM, Sinnoh time, and it wasn’t the first time in Raihan’s life where he felt like he’d been through the wringer. 

Several drunk—or sober—one night stands did that to you, and with the added stressor of a second puberty that society had only recently started to accommodate, sometimes Raihan found himself wishing that for all the cool shit he could do when he had a dragon secondary type, he _ really _wished he didn’t have it. 

Currently, Raihan felt like he was frozen solid. All of his Pokémon weren’t really helpful in that regard—Gooms, Gladiolus and Darude were all cold-blooded, after all—and he sat there, bundled in layers upon layers of blankets, shivering up a storm. 

“I feel like shit,” he croaked, as the cabin lights came on, and forced his shaking, frozen fingers to manoeuvre the seatbelt he’d managed to put on, but they grew stiff and inept with the cold. Growling with frustration, his eyes thinned into slits, and he _ yanked _the seatbelt apart, jumping in alarm when he’d realised what he’d done. 

The sound of the seat belt lock clanging against the ground made Raihan jump, and Gladiolus was quick to pick it up with his mouth—and guiltily swallowed it. Raihan blinked at him in alarm as the dragon bowed his head sheepishly, and he laughed softly, shaking his head. 

“Thanks, buddy.” He gave his team a wink, “Let’s… let’s keep that a secret.”

His dragons shared a quiet laugh together, but nodded. Raihan put them all back in their Pokéballs with a fond chuckle, and tried to at least look presentable as he began to head out of the cabin at the flight attendant’s instruction. He gave him a weak little smile as he made his way past him, and he nodded absently. 

“Do you suffer?” He asked, and Raihan cocked his head at him. 

“Wh… what?”

“Are you okay?” He asked again, and Raihan realised the flight attendant had a thick Sinnohan accent. Maybe he just had a hard time with the worldwide lingua Franca. He gave him an easy smile, and shrugged. 

“Just jet lagged. Don’t mind me.” He gave the flight attendant a nod, “I’ll just get some rest. Thanks!”

He gave him a wave, and the flight attendant nodded, gesturing for him to head out. Raihan strode past him, and the flight attendant watched him leave with a blank expression—

Before jerking in alarm. 

“Wh…” he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. “What’s… what happened to me there? I was out for five minutes…”

* * *

Getting through immigration was pretty easy—though he did have a laugh with the immigration officer as they hurriedly did a web search on what a Duraludon was, and then the ensuing ‘please, can I see it?’ that was cut short with the officer’s superior giving them a sound smack to the back of their head.

He was surprised to see there was a crowd in the arrival area, and even the passengers with him were starting to catch on to who he was. He was met with excited murmurs and cheers as he strode out into the lobby of the arrival hall, his bags behind him, and he grinned widely as he realised why the crowd was there. 

Cynthia, the ex-Champion of the Sinnoh region herself, stood proudly at the parting barriers, holding a sign with his name on it. 

He gave her a wave, and she smiled at him as she waved back at him sedately. He picked up his things and hurried to her, and Cynthia nodded at him. 

“Raihan.” She said. 

“Miss Cynthia.” He grinned. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Likewise.” She smiled, and held up a large paper bag. “Look what I got.”

“Oh, is that Pokéfood?” Raihan asked eagerly, “Thank you so much, my team’s probably really hungry, I—” he stopped when he realised she was blushing, and he blinked at her. “Miss Cynthia?”

“I… got us some sweets.” She said sheepishly. “I didn’t know which flavours you liked, and I was going to run late if I stayed to decide what I wanted, so I… got them all.”

Raihan blinked at her for a moment, and burst out laughing. Cynthia laughed gingerly along with him, and he grinned at her. 

“You haven’t changed at all, Miss Cynthia.”

“Please, just call me Cynthia.” She smiled. “It’s good to see you in high spirits.”

“I think I’m about to collapse, actually.” He admitted, and she giggled behind her hand. 

“C’mon,” she said, reaching for his messenger bag. “Let’s get you home so you can sleep.”

“Thanks,” he began, but when he saw her hand reaching for his bag—for his _ dragons, _ something snapped in him, and his eyes thinned into slits. “_No!_” He snarled, jerking away from her, protectively covering his bag—his pack of dragons he protected with his life. “_Don’t _touch them.” Raihan growled aggressively as he clutched onto his bag possessively. 

Cynthia froze, blinking at him in alarm, and Raihan stopped, the haze in his mind clearing as he deflated, his heart lodging in his throat in shock at what he’d done. 

“Oh—oh, shit. I’m so sorry—” he stammered, but she shook her head kindly, lowering her hand. “I just—I didn’t—”

“Raihan, it’s okay.” Cynthia said soothingly, and Raihan stopped. “I’ve heard about this secondary typing.” She said, and he blinked up at her. Cynthia gave him a smile, and gestured for him to follow after her. “Professor Rowan and I have read Professor Sonia’s work about secondary typing. It’s really quite fortuitous that Galar has _ three _of you.”

“I…” Raihan gingerly followed after her out of the departure hall, and accepted her help in loading his things into her SUV. “I see.”

“She used you and two other Gym Leaders in her case study, right?” She asked, and the two of them got into the car—Cynthia at the wheel, Raihan next to her in front. Raihan nodded. “You, dragon-type, there’s Leader Nessa, water-type… who was the other one?”

“Allister.” Raihan said. “Ghost-type.”

“Ah, yeah.” Cynthia nodded, chuckling fondly. “You know, one of my grandmother’s graduate students wants to fly to Galar and have a word with him. Probably to ask about Corsola and Cursola, but I think she thinks he’s adorable and just wants a hug or something.”

“Most of Allister’s fans are like that.” Raihan finally managed a chuckle, and Cynthia smiled, gently patting Raihan’s chin. 

“There’s that smile.” She said, not taking her eyes off the road. “You’re among friends here, Raihan.” Cynthia turned her head towards him a little, and gave him a wink. “And I have my own dragons. I can take a few angry growls.”

Raihan laughed helplessly at that. “Fair enough.” He leaned back in his seat with a sigh, looking out at the streets they drove through, buildings passing by them beginning to glow with coloured lights as night began to fall. “When do you think is the soonest time for me to enter the Gym Challenge?”

“I knew you’d ask that.” She chuckled fondly, shaking her head. “Well, I suppose, when you beat me.”

“Beat the Champion? That’s a bit cruel.” Raihan laughed, and she laughed along with him. 

“I think the most important thing for you to focus on right now is getting some sleep.” She said, “And maybe some dinner.”

“Oh, are we stopping by a drive-through for a burger?” He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. 

“There’s food waiting for you at home.”

“I hate this family already.” Raihan laughed, and Cynthia burst out laughing, too, as they slowed down near a drive-through. “Oh?”

“What do you want, Raihan?” She asked, rolling down her window, and Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“Oh? For real?” 

Cynthia beamed at him. “It’ll be so worth it. Even if my butler Niles will be so pissed off.”

“_Fuck _yeah.” Raihan laughed, and they turned their attention to the cashier at the drive-through window, openly gaping at them. “Hi,” he said pleasantly. “We’d like to order?”

They floundered for a moment, before blurting out, “Chairman Cynthia! I’m a massive fan!”

Cynthia gave them a patient smile, but they suddenly collapsed. The two trainers blinked at the window in alarm, and then at each other. 

“It’s tough being famous, isn’t it?” Raihan laughed, and Cynthia dissolved into giggles.

* * *

Niles gave his employer and her new guest a piece of his mind when they came home to her mansion with bags of fast food. Nevertheless, he looked delighted when Cynthia pulled out a particular order that Raihan had assumed was his favourite, and by the time Raihan brought out the sweets Cynthia got them, Niles’s annoyance was almost non-existent, and the dinner they were supposed to have tonight would just have to be breakfast the next morning. 

Raihan let his team out as soon as they got to Cynthia’s mansion, and when Niles offered to take them to where Cynthia’s Pokémon were staying, Gooms clung onto her trainer, teary eyed, and Cynthia let Raihan stay with his team for the night.

Her mansion was lovely and lively, surrounded by greenery and overlooking the ocean, but he couldn’t see it in the darkness that cloaked over them. Cynthia showed him to his room and helped him settle down—Niles assured him the rest of his things would follow in the coming week—and bade him goodnight, leaning him alone in the darkness of his room. 

Raihan lay in bed, looking forlornly out the window. 

“I can’t sleep.” He said quietly. 

He’d been so exhausted when he arrived at Sinnoh, almost ready to collapse and sleep off the fatigue with every passing moment he wasn’t in a bed. Despite all that, though, Raihan had enough energy to take a few photos with fans at his and Cynthia’s food stopovers, make a PokéGram and Pidgetter post announcing his arrival at Sinnoh, and have an animated, lively conversation with Cynthia and Niles at dinner over crappy guilty pleasure fast food. He hadn’t had fast food in _ ages, _ not even while living as a bachelor or as a sleep-deprived college student, not even on the laziest days when he and Leon were too tired to even _ eat. _

It was _ fantastic _ to have it again—and this time, at least, the Galarian paparazzi aren’t there to judge him for it. (Not that he cared, not really—he was more concerned about the added pressure on _ Leon, _and that he had a body to maintain.) 

Now, after brushing his teeth and washing his face, changed into a more comfortable, loose t-shirt Leon used to own and his briefs, tucked comfortably into bed, Raihan couldn’t sleep.

He lay in his bed for hours, staring at the ceiling blankly, and he couldn’t understand why. Eventually, he gave up on waiting, and groaning softly, he sat up, staring up at the moon. Outside, he could hear Noctowl and Hoothoot making their rounds in the sky, and Raihan smiled slightly at that, peering at his team in the room with him. Gooms was in the ensuite bathroom, sleeping in a half-filled bathtub, while Darude took all the throw pillows on the couch and nested with them in the corner, fast asleep in his little pillow fort. Gladiolus took the couch, stock still and lying on his back on the cushions left behind, and Raihan nodded, turning his attention back to the window. Much to his surprise, a little blue bird-like Pokémon with fluffy white wings landed on his windowsill, curiously pecking at his window.

“Hey there.” He murmured softly, sliding his window open, grateful that it was right next to his bed. The little Pokémon hopped into the room with him, and cuddled on his lap. “Aren’t you a sweet thing?” He chuckled, stroking it gently, and he reached for his phone on the bedside table, lifting it to gently wake the Rotom inside it. “Hey, buddy, could you tell me what this Pokémon is?”

“_Right away!_” Rotom chirped, and took a photo of the Pokémon sitting peacefully on Raihan’s lap. “_Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokémon. Swablu has light and fluffy wings that are like cottony clouds. This Pokémon is not frightened of people, and lands on their heads, sitting there like a cotton-fluff hat._” 

“Swablu, huh.” Raihan hummed, peering at his phone as he went back to petting the Pokémon on his lap. “Normal/Flying. Not fond of making a nest of my locs, are you?”

It cooed in response on his lap, and he chuckled fondly. “Guess not.” 

He went back to his phone, swiping through more of Swablu’s biodata. “Rotom, what does it evolve into?”

“_Altaria, the Humming Pokémon!_” Rotom chirped. “_Altaria dances and wheels through the sky among billowing, cotton-like clouds. By singing melodies in its crystal-clear voice, this Pokémon makes its listeners experience dreamy wonderment. It is a Dragon/Flying type._”

“A dragon?” Raihan lit up. He looked down at the Swablu in his hands, and he beamed at it. “Well, look at you. I’m sure you’ll be big and strong someday.” He stroked its soft, fluffy belly with his thumbs, and laughed when it shook itself in his hand, brushing its cottony wings over his palms in return. Raihan laughed at the ticklish sensation, and he heard the sound of metal creaking. He turned to see Gladiolus making his way towards them, and Raihan gave him a smile, beckoning him over. “Check it out, Gladiolus. It’s called a Swablu.”

The Pokémon rumbled quietly in acknowledgment, to not scare it off, it seemed, but the Swablu seemed unbothered, sitting down comfortably in Raihan’s large hands. 

“Apparently this little thing becomes a dragon when it evolves. Kinda like Darude, when he was still a baby Trapinch.”

Gladiolus nodded, settling down to lean on Raihan’s side, and the young man chuckled fondly, petting the dragon’s neck. 

They stayed quiet for a long moment, before Raihan sighed deeply. 

“Gladiolus, I can’t sleep.” He admitted quietly. His Pokémon made a small sound of sympathy, and he chuckled fondly. “I know I felt exhausted when we arrived, but now that the dust’s settled, I can’t get myself to relax.”

Gladiolus reached for his phone, and Raihan laughed. 

“I swear, I only picked this up when the Swablu came over.” He said, but as Gladiolus turned his phone over, his phone background lit up—Leon’s smiling face, backlit by the sunrise on top of the Wyndon skyline. He’d taken the photo a few days before he’d left—the morning made hazy and golden by lazy morning sex, punctuated with slow kisses and mirroring smiles pressed between breathy sighs of contentment. They’d been talking about their future together, afterwards, and Raihan had made Leon laugh at something he said. Rotom captured the moment for him, and Raihan made it his phone’s background photo after Leon had fallen asleep again 

Raihan’s eyes welled with tears at the sight of his fiancé. 

“Oh, that’s right…” he breathed, and smiled. “I haven’t sent him a message yet. Let’s see…” he fiddled with some settings on Rotom, and it hovered in the air in front of him. “Rotom, you recording?”

“_Recording._”

“Hey, babe.” He smiled at the camera, and Gladiolus leaned in to be part of the frame. Raihan beamed, pulling him closer with one hand while his other hand gently lifted the Swablu to press it near his cheek. It snuggled against his cheek, and he laughed softly. “Just got settled in at Cynthia’s manor. I’d tell you the rest, but I’m kinda tuckered out as it is.” He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, and Gladiolus nodded in agreement. 

“But! I already had my first visitor, this is Swablu!” The little Pokémon tittered happily, snuggling against his cheek, and it made him laugh, snuggling back. “It’s a really sweet thing, isn’t it? We’ve never seen something like this in Galar before.” He chuckled fondly, and blew his camera a kiss. “I miss you already, Lee. I love you. Message me back when you can so we can get a video chat schedule running.”

He nodded at Rotom, and it stopped recording. 

“_Send to Leon, sir?_” It asked. 

“Yes, please.” He sighed, and laughed softly when he saw Gladiolus yawn. “You go back to bed, buddy. I appreciate you coming to see me tonight, but you need rest, too.”

Gladiolus lowered his head in acknowledgment, and headed back to the couch to sleep. Raihan nodded to himself and lay back in bed, smiling fondly at the Swablu as it hopped off his hand to stand on his bed. It looked at him curiously, cocking its head as he rolled over on his side to smile at it. 

“Aren’t you gonna go home soon?” He asked. “I’m sure you’ve got someone to go home to, just like me.”

It crooned softly, and he chuckled as it approached his head, finally nesting in his dreads with a soft, soothing hum. 

“Aw, you finally came around.” He mumbled, and much to his relief, started feeling sleepy as the Pokémon began to hum a soothing tune. “Okay, I’ll leave the window open for you, so you can go home in the morning.” He yawned softly, laughing at the ticklish sensation of its wings against his skin. “G’night, little Swablu.”

He quickly drifted off to sleep, and the Swablu fell quiet as it sat there for a long moment, watching Raihan’s steady, rhythmic breathing as his sleep grew deeper. It eventually looked up, cocking its head at the darkness in Raihan’s room, and with a nod from the shadows beyond it, it finally flew out of his bedroom. 

The window slowly slid shut behind it with a quiet _ click. _

Raihan’s phone lit up, vibrating with an incoming call, but the dragon stayed fast asleep, curled up on his side and sinking deeper into his dreams.

* * *

“_Good morning, sir. I got your favourite scones and a pot of Darjeeling on Charkie on standby._” 

“Ah, thank you, Ricki,” Leon dropped the bag of bread he’d been meaning to heat on Red’s tail on the way to work. “I, um, I’m sorry, I’ll be right there in five minutes.”

“_Take your time._” His assistant said pleasantly. “_I heard you had a rough night._”

Leon laughed dryly. “Where’d you hear that?”

“_Grandma Vi._” Ricki replied. “_There’s nothing urgent for you in the office right now, anyway. Would you like me to get started on anything, though?_”

“I—uh, yeah.” Leon stammered. “Would it be alright if you could look up all the environmental laws in Galar? Specifically, the ones regarding all the banned Pokémon in the region.”

“_Will do, sir. Please be careful flying over here on Charizard._”

“Thank you.” Leon sighed, and Ricki hung up. He shook his head to clear it, and hurried outside, deploying Red’s Pokéball. Red landed on the roof of Leon and Raihan’s Wyndon penthouse flat and looked at Leon expectantly as he struggled to pull his coat on. “Good morning, Red. Sorry, we’ll stop by for breakfast on the way.”

Red shook his head, huffing with a little smile, and Leon blinked at him. 

He gestured at the door to the flat with his tail, and Leon cocked his head, peering back inside—

And found a bag of Pokéfood on the ground, its contents spilling out. Leon laughed incredulously, running his hand through his hair exasperatedly as he went back to Red to pinch his side, tutting. 

“Naughty thing!” He huffed, but he couldn’t stay mad at him for long. Leon got onto his back, shaking his head fondly as he patted Red’s neck. “Okay, let’s go to HQ. We’ve let Ricki wait long enough.”

Villea had found him fast asleep and curled up in the embrace of his Haxorus and her new friend, the Tyranitar, in the wee hours of the morning. She gently woke the grieving young man up, and he promptly hurried back home to clean up—wash off the Goodra goo before feeding the rest of his team, but he’d fallen asleep on Raihan’s Roggenrola stool when he sat down for a break.

Now, for the first time ever, Leon clocked in to work at 9:30, and accepted a reheated, still-warm teacup of Darjeeling from his assistant, who smiled at him fondly as she waited patiently for her Growlithe to finish heating up Leon’s scones. 

“I’m truly sorry, Ricki.” He sighed, burying his face in his hands as he slumped over his desk in exhaustion. Red was on his perch on the balcony outside, stretching out his wings with a yawn, and Leon found himself gingerly wishing that he, too, could stretch out outside for a moment. As it stood, though, he really didn’t want to leave his post, not when he just _ got there. _ “This has never happened to me before, I promise.”

“You _ did _ just say goodbye to Leader Raihan for the first time in a decade yesterday.” She said, and Leon looked up at her. Ricki gave him a sunny grin as Charkie barked lightly, and she bent down to pick up the metal container that had Leon’s scones in it. “Well, I’ve never been in a relationship, but I’d imagine it would have been difficult.” Ricki opened the lid, and Leon positively _ melted _ at the scent of warm scones as it wafted from the container. He quickly tucked into his meal, and she giggled. “And besides, you’re still quite early. No need to beat yourself up, Sir.”

“Thanks…” He sighed, leaning back in his seat as he finished off his second scone in record time, and reached for a third one to eat it at a more sedate pace. “Now, about what I’d asked of you…”

“Oh, right!” Ricki nodded, and set down a folder in front of him. “I checked in with City Hall about the environmental laws in Galar, and I’ve compiled what I found in this folder. Did you know that the oldest law that banned foreign species is only around 10 years old? The, erm. What was it called again, the—PSEA, or something? That one.”

“Oh?” Leon raised an eyebrow at her. “_That _recent?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, tapping her chin in thought. “Around… around the time you became Champion, actually! You were the last person to use banned species in competitive play since the law was signed.” 

Leon frowned. “That’s… interesting.” He looked outside at Red, and thought about the years they’d spent together. It never really occurred to him that he’d been using contraband Pokémon species—never really made a mark on him that Red was the only one of his kind in competitive battling for a whole _ decade _ until he’d pulled strings for Red to breed for a little Charmander egg he gave the little Champion as a present. 

“_Oh, another Charmander, Chairman? Lucky for you that this little fella’s line is exempted from Dexit, isn’t it?_”

The customs officer had said that to him when he and Raihan picked up the egg at Thornton Airport, and they spent an hour laughing at the nickname given to the Pokémon Species Exclusion Act. Dexit, they’d said, what a silly-ass sounding name. 

Now, it didn’t seem as silly. 

“_I have a gift for you, Leon._” Rose’s voice echoed in his head. “_Now please, do behave this time, won’t you?_”

He shuddered. 

“Yeah.” Ricki nodded, unaware of his sudden discomfort. “Oh, and this just came in after you called, sir. It’s from the Aether Foundation.” She handed him an envelope, and he nodded at her gratefully.

“I really don’t know what I’d be without you, Ricki.” He chuckled tiredly, and she gave him a wink. 

“Buried in paperwork, probably.” She replied. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

“Thank you,” Leon nodded, and she headed outside, waiting for little Charkie to trot out of the room first before gently shutting the door behind her. He sighed deeply, and looked down at the papers in front of him. Gingerly he opened the Aether Foundation papers first—frowning in thought as he read over the budget report for the soon-to-be under construction Aether Paradise Wild Area sanctuary near Motostoke, and then the impact report with Kabu as its signatory at the bottom right hand corner. Leon’s expression fell as he remembered Sena, and wondered where the blond was—how he was doing, and if he’d managed to talk to Kabu about his current predicament. 

—_As well as the new Dynamax Research Facility, located near the Power Spot Den in the Watchtower Ruins, consigned to Dr. Sonia of the Wedgehurst Pokémon Research Laboratory. _

“Oh?” Leon blinked, and read the sentence again. “Sonia‘s getting a new lab, is she…? Wonder where she got the funding for that.”

He was sure he hadn’t approved of anything from the Wedgehurst Research Lab lately—most of the grants he’d been approving were from Hammerlocke University and the Wyndon Children’s Hospital. Then again, he supposed, Sonia wasn’t fond of asking for Macro Cosmos grants, wanting to avoid accusations of nepotism or conflicts of interest, and he respected that. Still, he should head over there and congratulate her and Hop—likely that one of them will head research there, and the other in Wedgehurst. 

He had Rotom make a reminder for him on his phone to drop by their lab with some sweets to celebrate with them, and turned back to his papers. 

More financial reports, some executive decisions that needed signing.

It was all the standard fare things he did as CEO, and Leon found himself relaxing as he got through his normal paperwork, filing them all neatly in a little shelf on his desk, separated into convenient little categories for his assistant’s sake. 

By the time Leon looked up from the last Macro Cosmos file he was reading, the bell at the Great Wyndon Bell Tower struck its twelfth gong, and he yawned, stretching out in place before sinking back in his seat. 

“Oh, what…” he sighed. “Time sure flies…” 

Outside, Red tapped on the glass of his balcony door with the claw on his wing, and Leon turned to look at him. He had his dish in his mouth, whining pitifully, and he jumped. 

“Oh, shit! Red, I’m sorry!” He hissed, shooting up from his seat, but his legs refused to move, and he fell over. Red groaned in concern, pressing his hands to the window as Leon gingerly pulled himself up onto the couch, laughing gingerly. “S-sorry, I don’t know what came over me there for a sec—_oof!_” He tried to get up again, but bumped into the coffee table, wincing as his pinky toe felt the brunt of the table’s assault. “_Fuck!_”

“Ooh, Mr. Chairman’s getting a little PG,” came Ricki’s voice through the door as she peered in, smiling fondly at her boss as Charkie peered in from the bottom, carrying with her a paper bag of Pokéfood. Leon heaved a sigh of relief as Ricki opened the door fully, letting her Growlithe hurry to the balcony to feed Red while letting Leon see that she was carrying a paper bag of take-out from a nearby restaurant. “Hello, sir.” She said, setting the bag down on Leon’s desk. 

“Ricki.” He sighed gratefully. “You’re… you’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s my job, sir.” She replied simply, chuckling fondly. “And I got worried about you. You’d been in here since you arrived this morning, without taking a single break.”

“I’m… I hadn’t realised.” He sighed, and she offered him a kind smile. 

“Maybe you should call Leader Raihan. Check up on him, and stuff.”

He blinked at her owlishly, and she shrugged. 

“He should have touched down in Sinnoh by now, right?” She asked, checking her watch. “Should be… one, two… yeah, should be about 9PM where they are right now. Maybe he’s still awake?” 

“Oh,” Leon said faintly. “That’s… that’s right. He should be…” Leon shook his head to clear it, and he looked at his phone for the first time since he’d arrived that morning. His eyes widened to find a notification that there was a video message to him he had yet to see, and he looked back at Ricki, who was beaming at him. 

“There you have it, sir.” She said cheerfully. “I’ll be right outside again.”

“I—” Leon stammered, before laughing helplessly, running his hand through his hair. “Thank you, “Ricki. Truly.”

“Always a pleasure.” She gave him a mock salute, and headed outside, Charkie in tow. Leon sighed fondly as the door shut behind her, and he looked down at his phone with a dreamy smile on his face. 

“Rotom, could I see what that message was?” 

“_Certainly. It’s from Raihan, sent 5 minutes ago._” Rotom chirped, and Leon jumped in shock. 

“Oh, he might still be awake!” Leon gasped. “Rotom, please call him.” 

“_Calling!_” Rotom replied, and Leon held his breath as the dial tone droned on. He looked hopefully at his phone as it continued to ring, and with every passing moment that Raihan didn’t answer, his heart sank, until Rotom had to cut the attempt at calling him. “_Unfortunately, Raihan isn’t answering._”

“I… I guess he already fell asleep.” He mumbled sheepishly, shaking his head. “It’s fine. I’m…” He faltered, and jumped when he heard Red’s thumping footsteps in his office—Charkie must have helped him get in. Leon looked up to see his Charizard looking at him with sympathetic eyes, and he laughed helplessly, hugging Red’s head close to his cheek when the Charizard moved in. “Hey, buddy. I promise, I’m okay.”

Red chuffed softly, and looked at Leon’s phone. Leon took a shaky breath, and nodded at Rotom.

“Rotom, please let us see Raihan’s message.”

Rotom beeped once, and Leon couldn’t help but tear up at the sight of Raihan as his image appeared on his screen. He was sitting up in a bed, looking snug and comfortable in Leon’s old shirt, his dreads down and framing his face as he beamed at the camera. There was a small blue Pokémon in the palm of his hand, and Leon gasped softly at the sight of it, unable to keep himself from smiling as he reached out at the screen, gently touching the image of the blue fluff ball in Raihan’s hand. Gladiolus was standing next to Raihan’s bed, and Red groaned sadly, looking at Leon with a soft whine.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Leon chuckled fondly, petting Red’s neck gently. 

“_Hey, babe._” Raihan said, and Gladiolus leaned in to be part of the frame. Raihan beamed, and pulled him closer with one hand, while the other hand lifted the blue Pokémon gently to press it near his cheek. Leon took a sharp breath when he saw the little bird-like Pokémon cuddle against Raihan’s cheek, feeling his chest swell with affection at how _ adorable _ the sight was. “_Just got settled in at Cynthia’s manor. I’d tell you the rest, but I’m kinda tuckered out as it is._” He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, and Gladiolus nodded in agreement. 

Leon laughed softly at that, wiping at his eyes. “_But! I already had my first visitor, this is Swablu!_” The little Pokémon tittered happily, and snuggled against his cheek again. It tickled Raihan with its fluffy wings, and the man laughed, snuggling back. “_It’s a really sweet thing, isn’t it? We’ve never seen something like this in Galar before._” 

Leon’s expression softened at the little Pokémon in Raihan’s hands. It was a species that didn’t naturally occur in Galar, he was sure of it—one of the species of Pokémon that would have been confiscated if it went to Galar, just like Sena’s Alolan Raichu. 

Raihan chuckled fondly, and blew his camera a kiss. “_I miss you already, Lee. I love you. Message me back when you can so we can get a video chat schedule running._”

The video cut, and Leon felt bereft of Raihan’s presence. Like something being unplugged, Leon’s mood immediately plummeted, and he slumped back in his seat, sighing sadly. 

“I love you too.” He said quietly. 

Red whined, and nosed at Leon’s side. He laughed, and nodded. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s make a video together too, so Gladdie can see you too.”

Red nodded, and Leon fiddled with some settings on his phone, smiling when it lifted from his hand to float in front of him, patiently waiting for him to start speaking. 

“Hi, Rai.” Leon began, and he knew Rotom had already begun recording. “It’s… the middle of the day right now, sorry I saw your message late. I’d been busy.” He laughed weakly, and rubbed at his eyes. Red pushed into the frame, whining, and Leon laughed fondly, petting his Charizard’s neck. “Red misses Gladdie already, too. Swablu is so cute, you should tell me more about it when we call each other again. We can probably manage a call when it’s 6AM for me, 9PM for you.” He wagged his finger at the camera. “And don’t give me any lip about it being too early for me. I used to get up at 5 to run before you started complaining about it!”

He laughed softly, shaking his head. “Don’t forget—I’m cheering you on, every step of the way. I’ll hear from you again tomorrow, maybe?”

Leon tried to blow a kiss at the camera, but dissolved into laughter, too embarrassed to do it properly. 

“I love you so much.” Leon sighed, when he’d calmed down. “Can’t wait to call you soon.”

“_Recording complete!_” Rotom chirped. “_Send to Raihan, sir?_”

“Yes, please.” Leon sighed. “Thank you, Rotom.”

His phone beeped in acknowledgment, and set itself down on the table. Leon leaned against Red, who groaned softly at him. 

“I know, buddy.” He petted Red’s neck, and looked at his desk with a sigh. “I should eat, too.”

Red nodded, and Leon settled down to tuck into the meal Ricki brought him. The Charizard sighed and settled down on a cushion on the balcony outside to take a nap, and Leon huffed fondly as he left. He looked down at his desk, and remembered the folder Ricki handed him that morning. 

He picked it up, and thumbed it open, humming thoughtfully as he looked through them, mindlessly shoving spoonful of his lunch into his mouth as he did. 

It was nothing _ too _ unfamiliar to him—he’d lived through the implementation of every single one of these laws, and at the time, the arguments for even _ having _them made sense—to protect the native population of Pokémon, you had to make sure invasive species were kept out. There were certain environmental acts that limited mining in certain areas, protected others—there was the law that protected the Wild Area, and mandated its use on and off-Gym Challenge season. 

On, and on, and on…

Leon grumbled, and shut the folder petulantly. 

“I can’t make sense of this.” He huffed, and peered at his phone. 

“_Reminder!_” Rotom suddenly chirped, and Leon’s eyes widened, grabbing his phone to look at its screen, lighting up at the notification obscuring Raihan’s grin on his screen.

Oh, but he knew someone who did—and he _ did _say he was going to bring them sweets.

He grinned widely, and got up onto his feet, hurrying to the door. Red lifted his head from his cushion in alarm as Leon peered outside, startling Ricki into a shout of alarm. 

“S-sir?” She stammered.

“I’m going to Wedgehurst,” he told her, “Let me know if I’m needed here, okay?”

“S-sure thing, but what for?” She asked, getting up from her seat, and he grinned at her. 

“I’m gonna have a word with the good Doctor,” he huffed. “And hopefully we can make sense of things while I’m there!”

“Doc—” Ricki blinked, but he was already heading back into his office to get Red. She ran her hand through her hair exasperatedly. “_Doctor who?_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > writing a few sentences a day feels like pulling out my teeth one by one but I’m finally at that point where I’m addressing the point of the sea between us:  
  
climate change is real, the effects of it are profound, this problem is actionable, if we start working now [pic.twitter.com/2az7or7vZu](https://t.co/2az7or7vZu)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 7, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1236232321507835906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> "bukkun you can't keep getting away with these references"
> 
> me, spitting on the ground: fucking watch me


	11. Eco-Revision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you think would feasibly begin the reform that I want to see?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I wrote something I’m really proud of for the sea between us and I wanna share it but it’s major spoilers for the ending [pic.twitter.com/PVa4EId1se](https://t.co/PVa4EId1se)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 11, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1237586357213523969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> context: i wrote an all-out battle between sena and raihan. reyna and i haven't stopped rereading it. it's glorious.
> 
> **IMPORTANT:** chessie (@/weepygreens) on twitter drew [fanart for chapter 10](https://twitter.com/weepygreens/status/1238128406585196546)! again, thank you so much for that. I'm so soft seeing it. ;u; if <strike>somehow</strike> anyone has drawn something, please let me see it! it makes my day. i'll be sure to link it here, too!
> 
> anyway, we're currently on community quarantine and the world's going to pot. i hope this update (though quite... unsubstantial) is enough to help cheer you up somehow. please stay safe, don't go out if you can, and if you do, please practice all the precautions that comes with going outside (social distancing, decontaminate yourself before returning home, wear a face mask **ONLY IF YOU'RE SICK**, and so on). here's to hoping things will turn out for the better soon.

“Lee?” Hop’s eyes widened as Leon jumped off Red’s back, grinning widely as he held up a box of cream puffs for him to see. “Oh! You brought sweets!” 

“I hope you have tea.” Leon chuckled, and headed to his little brother as Red put himself back into his Pokéball, dropping into Leon’s waiting hand. He tucked Red away in his pocket, and grinned at Hop. “I’m here to see you and Sonia.”

“Is that Leon?” Sonia called from inside, and Hop looked behind him. 

“Yeah!” He called, and he turned back to smile at Leon. “Well, come in, I suppose. What’s the occasion?” 

“I heard the news,” he replied, stepping into the lab after Hop, making a beeline for the pantry area to put the sweets down. “You’re getting a new research facility out in the Wild Area, right?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Sonia gasped from above him, and he looked up to see her on the upper bookshelves. She gave him a little smile, and hurried down to meet them. “How’d—how’d you know?”

“It was part of the Aether Foundation proposal report to Macro Cosmos.” Leon replied, “Came into my office this morning, and I thought to congratulate you and Hop.”

“Are those cream puffs?” Sonia’s eyes sparkled at the box on the table, and Leon laughed, nodding. “_Yes! _Also—thank you!” She chirped, giving Leon a kiss on the cheek before she hurried to the table. “Oh, I’m positively famished! Thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” Leon rolled his eyes, chuckling fondly as she ushered him close to sit down, and he nodded at Hop as his little brother set a mug of tea down in front of him. He took a deep breath, and smiled. “Oh, this is nice.”

“Roserade tea.” Sonia winked at him. “Milo dropped by Nessa’s place to give us some.”

“It smells nice.” Leon nodded, and took a sip. “So, a new Dynamax Research Facility right next to a Power Spot Den. Must be the move of a lifetime.” 

“Definitely.” Sonia nodded, sitting down next to Hop as he helped himself to some cream puffs. “Imagine that—little Hopscotch’s very own research facility! All his to lead!”

“Oh, it’s Hop’s?” Leon’s eyes widened, and he beamed at his little brother as he tried to hide behind his cream puff. “Oh, you little rascal! That’s fantastic! Does Mum know?”

“Not yet,” Hop laughed gingerly. “Hell, even _ Gloria _doesn’t know yet.”

“He didn’t want you to know yet either, even though I told him you would _ eventually _find out, since the project is part of the Aether Foundation thing over there.” Sonia giggled, and Hop blew her a raspberry. “Said something about it being his revenge for not being told you and Raihan were engaged.”

“Oh, Hop.” Leon chuckled fondly, and Hop made a show of rolling his eyes. Oh, he was growing up so fast—a moody teenager now, was he? Leon was going to miss his sweet, eager little Hopscotch. He jumped a little, and looked around the lab. “Oh, that’s right—since the Dynamax Research Lab will eventually move to the Wild Area, what will happen to this one?”

“Well,” Sonia twirled a lock of her hair, grinning. “I’ve decided to dedicate my postgrad to focusing on secondary typing research.” 

Leon blinked at her. “Secondary typing research?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Recently, I got the funding to start developing a detection kit!” 

Leon’s eyes widened at her as she bounced excitedly in her seat. “A… detection kit?”

She nodded again. “Soon, I’ll be able to accurately detect secondary type people, _ and _their type! I even have a control group to base on!” 

“That’s amazing!” Leon lit up, and Sonia squealed happily, grabbing his hands as she jumped up and down. “Sonia—wh—you’ll be able to help so many people!” 

“I _ know!_” She giggled. “I’m so _ excited! _ I can’t even begin to imagine what other secondary-type people could be like… I’ve only ever met four, I wanna meet _ more!_”

“There she goes,” Hop smiled as he rested his chin on his hand, and Sonia beamed at him as she crossed her arms. “She’s been going on non-stop about this since her grant proposal was granted.”

“Oh, speaking of which—” Leon began, “Sonia, who approved your grant?”

“This… um, hang on.” She fished around her pockets for her phone, and when she found it, she and Hop cheered as she thrusted it into the air. Leon laughed as they calmed down, and Sonia scrolled through her phone quickly. “Magiflora Mining Company.” She read, and Leon frowned. 

“A mining company?” He mumbled, and she shrugged.

“Maybe they’re looking for rock- and ground-type people.” She reasoned. “Well, whatever. To me, funding is funding, and I just went and grabbed it while I could.” Sonia turned to smile softly at Leon, and the young man blinked at her in surprise. “And who knows, maybe I’ll keep finding ways to help make Raihan’s dragon life a little easier.”

Leon deflated at that, sighing as he looked down at the mug of tea in his hands. 

She was right—there were times when Raihan’s dragon secondary typing was truly something to behold, like when he could handle harasser paparazzi with just a single glare or get even the most unruly, terrifyingly violent dragon to obey his will. He could see ridiculously well in the dark, he had a perfect memory of where everything was in their flat, he was strong enough to _ open stubborn jars_—

Hell, the _ sex _ was _ fantastic— _

It really wasn’t the best lifestyle that Leon wanted for his fiancé. 

Raihan’s dragon blood came with an array of problems—when his ruts approached, he could get truly, frightfully angry sometimes—possessive and furious to a fault, but Leon could always coax him down from his bouts of rage. Sometimes, he would have the urge to stance up against people he found even vaguely threatening, and he had an irresistible compulsion to hoard things in his and Leon’s flat, squirrelling away both important and generally unimportant little things in pockets of space around the flat until Leon accidentally stumbled into it. At times, he would get incredibly hungry—or horny, depending on the company—and his energy would fluctuate wildly, sometimes having enough stamina to rival even a Mudsdale, and sometimes he was even weaker than a dehydrated Goomy. 

Then there were the more dangerous downsides to his dragon blood—harsh winters could very nearly _ kill _ him, if he didn’t have his Turtonator Patroclus, or his Torkoal that Sonia had nicknamed Toasty when they were children. Certain kinds of food would outright _ poison _him, and there came a time after Rose when they learned that the hard way, and Leon spent a solid 72 hours wide awake at the Wyndon Memorial Hospital’s ICU ward, terror clogging up his throat in fear as he waited for Raihan to wake up again. 

(“_Three days,_” Raihan had laughed, when Leon charged into the ward after hearing he’d woken up. “_Just like when I waited for you._” Leon kissed him as hard as he could that day, and learned for the first time in his life what it was like to be kicked out of a hospital ward.)

“Raihan…” Leon sighed, and Sonia gave him an encouraging smile. “Is the GWeez not enough?” 

“We don’t know its effects on his body, not perfectly.” Sonia shook her head. “For all we know, it could hurt him really badly down the line, but I don’t have any way of finding out—at least, until we get the Secondary Typing Research Centre up and running.” She reached forward to squeeze Leon’s hand. “GWeez is made from Weezing toxin, Leon. Poison _ and _ fairy-type. It’s dangerous for _ both _ of Raihan’s typings.”

Leon looked down at his mug. “We don’t have any other choice.”

“We don’t.” Sonia sighed, and Leon watched his reflection—at his exhausted, oh so _ lonely _eyes looking back at him. “None of us want a repeat of what happened last time.”

There was a season, one time, when Raihan had almost hurt Leon during his rut—he hadn’t meant to, but it had spooked him enough that he stayed away from Leon for a while, at least until they found a way to somewhat circumvent the effects of Raihan’s dragon blood on his life.

It’d been an accidental discovery, a temporary solution Raihan had accidentally come up with when he first started having ruts at 21. He was at a date when it hit, and he’d assumed he’d been roofied—ran into a Pokémon Centre in a downright mess and begging for help, and Nurse Joy had no choice but to ask a Trainer’s Galarian Weezing for help. 

Ever since he learned about his secondary typing, Raihan himself had funded Sonia’s work on developing the GWeez—an auto-injector pen containing a solution of distilled Galarian Weezing toxin that worked wonders on him during his more intense ruts, and, surprisingly, as an anti-roofie drug. The sales certainly helped Sonia get by with more of her personal projects, as well as helping Hop advance his education, and Leon was grateful it existed—

But he knew Sonia was right. Raihan couldn’t keep turning to GWeez to manage his dragon blood forever. 

“Yeah.” Leon sighed, and Sonia squeezed his hand comfortingly. 

“So, what’s that?” She asked, gesturing at the briefcase Leon brought with him, and he jumped, blinking at her in alarm. Sonia cocked her head at him. “Leon?”

“R-right, I was wondering if you two could help me with something.” He said, “By the way, how’d the call with Professor Kukui go?”

“He was away at a conference in Hoenn when we called.” Hop said, and Sonia nodded sympathetically. Leon sighed, and slumped back in his seat. “We did talk to Professor Burnet, and Professor Wicke—that’s someone from the Aether Foundation—about what they knew, but the both of us had been so busy lately with getting the Wild Area project started that we never got to message you about it.”

“No, it’s fine,” Leon shook his head, “Thank you for telling me anyway.” He gave them a smile, and opened his briefcase, taking out the folder Ricki gave him that morning. He unfurled it in front of them, and Sonia and Hop cocked their heads at it as he spread the papers out in front of them. “I asked Ricki to compile all the Galarian wildlife and environmental laws.”

“Oh, that’s a lot.” Sonia hummed, “And they’re all pretty recent, too.” She looked at Hop, and hummed. “Some of them were passed before you were even born, Hop.”

“Huh.” Hop blinked down at the papers. “The Pokémon Species Exclusion Act? Dexit?” He asked, and Sonia nodded, giggling.

“That’s right, it was nicknamed Dexit.” She sighed. “Oh, what a silly name.” 

Leon stayed quiet at that, simply nodding as he looked back down at the papers. Hop looked at him worriedly, but he shook his head. 

“So, what do you need us for, Lee?” Hop asked, and Leon looked up at him. He cocked his head at his brother, smiling slightly. “Expert opinion?”

Leon let out a little laugh at that, and Sonia chuffed proudly. “You’ve got two Pokémon Professors with you, Leon! We’ve got this!”

“Well, I was wondering how to get started on this,” He said, gesturing at the papers on the table. “Professors.” He grinned at them, and Sonia giggled brightly, while Hop hid his blush behind his hands. “What do you think would feasibly begin the reform that I want to see?”

“That you’d make Galar safe for all Pokémon to live in, huh.” Sonia hummed. “Well, I think we should learn why it _ isn’t _safe to live in for all Pokémon, in the first place.”

Leon blinked at her, but Hop nodded in understanding.

“That’s true.” He said, “But I can probably imagine it’s all the mining.” He sat back in his seat, and sipped on his mug thoughtfully. “And the power plants?” he peered at Leon, and looked sheepish. “I’m going to talk about Rose, are you going to be okay?”

Leon shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” He gave Hop an encouraging smile. “I promise, I’ve been doing better. I’ve been seeing my therapist, really.”

Hop raised an eyebrow at him for a moment, before nodding. “Last year, Rose messed Galar up because he started the Darkest Day, but it wasn’t without reason.” He peered into his mug. “Galar would have an energy crisis in a thousand years.” 

“A thousand years.” Leon murmured. “We’d be specks of dust when that time came.”

“Yes, well,” Sonia began, but Leon continued.

“But somehow, after a year living his life, I…” Leon’s grip tightened on the mug’s handle. “I feel like I understand him.”

Sonia and Hop fell quiet, and they looked at him nervously. The lab was silent save for the quiet murmuring hum of their equipment in the background, and Sonia’s nosy little Yamper sniffing around his playhouse filled with toys. 

“I’ve barely scratched the surface of the extent that Macro Cosmos owns Galar.” Leon laughed tiredly. “It’s been… rough.”

“I did hear that.” Sonia hummed, taking a sip of tea. “You’re on the news almost every week, you know.”

“And that’s not counting _ Raihan’s _ antics.” Leon sighed, resting his chin on his hand. “I… try to not read the business section.”

Sonia pulled a face. “I’m glad you don’t. It’s filled with a bunch of something-or-other snooty old men who think you shouldn’t be giving your employees above minimum wage, what bollocks!” She scoffed. “So what if you’re not a billionaire? People can pay their bills!” 

Leon laughed tiredly at that, shaking his head fondly. “You know, In a way, I can understand why Rose would want to deal with the energy crisis in the future—why wait for the worst when you can make it the best now?” He thumbed at his mug. “Macro Cosmos is the sole proprietor of the two Galar Mines as well as several geothermal plants up in Circhester. Motostoke Castle and Hammerlocke Castle rest on top of both Power Spots _ and _ MC power plants. And there’s… _ so many more._” He sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands. “Galar depends so much on these plants, but they’re not built to last long.”

Hop and Sonia looked at him sympathetically, unsure of what to say.

“If Galar has an energy crisis, I don’t know what I’d do. If we lost all our power plants, either overnight or one by one, for all its money and influence, I don’t think Macro Cosmos can save Galar, let alone the _ world, _as Rose wanted.” Leon said. “We can’t survive without those power plants, but… with those power plants around, I don’t know if Galar is going to last long anyway.”

“Galar’s problem is pollution.” Hop murmured, and Leon stopped. He looked up from his hands to look at his little brother, who sat up. “It’s pollution.”

“Pollution.” Leon echoed. 

“Yeah, mate!” Hop nodded. “My class recently discussed the Industrial Revolution, didn’t it start here in Galar?” He looked at Sonia, who nodded absently. “And just look at the Weezing here, compare it to the ones from Kanto! They’re both poison types, but ours have a secondary typing.” 

“Oh, that, and they purified the air here in Galar, ever since a long time ago.” Sonia hummed. “There’s Corsola and Cursola. The Mareanie and Toxapex displacement.” 

“Right, right!” Hop nodded. “And the evolutionary difference between our Zigzagoon line with the ones discovered first in Hoenn!”

“Guys,” Leon laughed helplessly, “I’m… a little lost.”

“Oh!” Sonia and Hop fell quiet, looking embarrassed as their cheeks darkened. They settled down sheepishly, and Leon patiently waited for them to speak up. “Sorry.” Sonia laughed awkwardly. “The point is, you can see the effects of climate change and pollution in native Galarian species. There’s been a theory posited by the Hammerlocke U Department of Ecology that a long time ago, Galar was occupied by lots and lots of species of Pokémon. Like, _ way _long ago. Around the time it’s said that Dracovish used to walk the land.”

Leon thought about the Swablu in Raihan’s hands.

“Back then… it was safe for all Pokémon to live here.” Sonia sighed. “There’s fossils to prove it in the Hammerlocke U’s Institute of Biology Vertebrate Museum.”

“So there had to be a reason why they disappeared, then.” Leon hummed.

“Adapted or gone extinct, more like.” Hop huffed. “A huge part of the scientific community believes that climate change and habitat destruction was a large part of Galar’s mass extinctions.”

“I… see.” Leon said hesitantly. “Does that mean the, um. Industrial revolution started it?”

“No, that’s too recent, I think.” Sonia shook her head. “It was only a few hundred years ago, Leon.”

Leon’s cheeks darkened. “I… didn’t know that.”

Sonia and Hop blinked at him, and Leon sheepishly looked down at his hands. “I never went to university, guys. Rose got me a personal tutor to get me through some part of high school, but we never tackled things like that.”

Sonia deflated. “Oh, that’s right…” she sighed, twirling a lock of her hair. “Well, I suppose we’ll just fill you in on things if you need it. Don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. “My primary source isn’t here to help, after all.” He laughed sadly. 

Raihan used to fill him in on things he’d missed out on when he was studying with his tutor. During Raihan’s finals or exams, Leon patiently listened to his boyfriend rattle facts and other information about the history of Galar, missing a lot of the context he would’ve gotten if he’d gone to school just like Hop, or the little Champion did. 

It was because of that that Leon made sure that the little Champion attended school often. With the Gym Challenge season over, it was their time to be in school with Marnie and Bede—Hop was already accelerated to a few years higher than them, and Leon was happy to see them and their friends learning in school together. 

Living the life he himself didn’t get to. 

“Yeah.” Hop said with a sigh. “How are you doing, Lee? First day without him.”

“I’ve been alright so far. Slept well last night, ate on time.” Leon lied, and Hop’s eyes narrowed at him. The older man blushed and looked away from him, and Hop sighed exasperatedly. 

“Lee, you know Raihan won’t be happy to hear that you’re tiring yourself out already.” He said, and Leon deflated at that. “Don’t forget to take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will, I promise.” Leon mumbled. They fell quiet for a moment, and Leon sighed. “Anyway, so we know that Galar_ can _ support more Pokémon species than what we have now. We know that the likely reason why Galar no longer has a lot of species of Pokémon is because of pollution.”

“Habitat loss, climate change, the works.” Sonia nodded. 

“Right.” Leon nodded slowly. “So… the first step is to identify the source of all the pollution in Galar.”

“Yep, I think so.” Sonia nodded. “Sounds like a good place to start.”

“Right.” Leon got up from his seat, and the two scientists jumped in alarm. 

“Leon,” Sonia began, “Don’t tell me you’re going to work on it _ now? _”

“If not now, then when?” 

“Lee, you’re sounding like…”

Hop bit his lip, looking strained as he held himself back. Leon stopped, and faltered. His hands balled into fists by his side, and Sonia gently pulled him to sit back down, stroking the back of his hand gently. 

“Leon.” She said quietly, but firmly. “You’re fine. Just take your time.”

“But I—”

“Leon,” Sonia said again, and Leon blinked at her, seeing her grandmother’s visage superimpose on the redhead. He smiled weakly at that as she tutted, shaking her head the same way Magnolia did, and he looked down at his mug of tea dejectedly. “You’re prone to making mistakes if you rush.” 

Sonia looked at him pointedly, and Leon could swear he could hear her voice the last time she told him off about rushing.

_ Look what happened to your championship title because of it. _

“I…” He bit his lip, and sighed. “Fine. I’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“Or in the coming week, that’s fine too.” Hop said. “I’m sure Macro Cosmos is keeping you busy. Why don’t we help you out?”

“No, it’s fine, really—” Leon began, but Hop shrugged.

“Victor said they needed something to work on for their special report.” Hop continued, and Leon blinked at him. “They could use some distraction, instead of coming over here and whining about it.” Hop snickered into his hand, and Leon smiled softly at his little brother.

“I’ll count on you for that, then.” He said, “Hop, could you ask Gloria to come to my office tomorrow morning?”

“Sure thing.” Hop nodded, and jerked his head at his brother. “You need to get back to work.”

As if on cue, Leon’s phone rang, and he laughed helplessly. 

“I apparently do,” He replied, and smiled at the two scientists. “Thank you for your help, guys. I mean it.”

“Just get some proper sleep and a decent meal, and we’ll call it even.” Sonia gave him a mock salute. “Go back to work, Mr. Chairman.”

Leon laughed helplessly, but deployed Red outside. “See you!” 

“Seeya!” Hop waved at him, and together, he and Sonia watched Leon leave. The both of them heaved twin sighs of relief, and Sonia gave Hop a tired smile. “You alright?” Hop asked, and she shook her head fondly.

“Are you?” She asked, and Hop shrugged. “He already misses him. Leon’s been hiding it as best as he could, but I can’t imagine him being able to maintain all that on top of Macro Cosmos work.” 

She looked down at her phone, where a message from Ricki told her where her employer had been found that morning. Sonia sighed, and slumped down on her seat. Hop reached over to squeeze her hand. 

“They’ll make it.” He said, and she smiled at him tiredly. “I have faith in them.” 

“Me too.” She nodded, “We’ll help them, however we can.”

* * *

When Raihan opened his eyes, he noticed three things immediately.

One, that he couldn’t move. His body disobeyed his every command to move, to _ do something, _but his body did as a stone wall to a raging dragon—nothing, but lock it up and hold it down, never to feel the warmth of the sun again.

Two, that he couldn’t see. His eyes were open, but the world was dark, as if he’d never opened them. He could feel his eyes thinning to slits, a vain attempt by the dragon inside him to see in the darkness that enveloped them, but the darkness was vast and overwhelming.

Three, that there was a disembodied voice speaking in front of him. It sounded faint, and distant, an old, ancient voice in the far darkness of the void, and Raihan couldn’t understand it. 

It was so, so far away—but he couldn’t explain why he felt so _ safe. _

So _ loved. _

It was like being with Leon again, but he knew…

He knew—

“What?” He whispered, as the darkness began to brighten, and he felt a soft caress against his hand. “Le—”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > she’s such a big Babie!!!!!!! I love her so much!!!!!!!!! [pic.twitter.com/SGdrHBZeID](https://t.co/SGdrHBZeID)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 10, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1237309780760223745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> \- raihan's social media timeline in sinnoh (you know it's coming. yes, his gible will be a girl.)
> 
> god. i can't believe i wrote 50k+ of gay fanfic to talk about habitat destruction, pollution and climate change


	12. Cloud Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just one.” She said, giving him a wink, and he blinked at her confusedly. “I think I can beat you with just one Pokémon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > the sea between us spoilers without context [pic.twitter.com/ZTrY4jRLN8](https://t.co/ZTrY4jRLN8)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1242473270386896896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> it's been over a week of quarantine. i've developed a routine of crunches in the morning, treadmill in the afternoon, just dance at night. i've baked cinnamon rolls. i've relearned how to play the piano. i've cooked garlic parmesan wings for the second time this entire lockdown.
> 
> the sea between us is almost 70k. unfortunately, i have too much fun writing pokemon battles.

When Raihan opened his eyes, he noticed three things immediately. 

One, that yesterday was real—that he left Galar, left _ Leon—_he’d managed to do it. Successfully. Nothing went wrong like he’d expected, the world didn’t end, and he woke up in an unfamiliar room in a land far from home. 

Two, the Swablu from the night before was gone. Not a single trace of its presence in his room remained, and the window next to his bed was closed. He was sure he’d left that open the night before—but it was closed, with the latch shut, like he’d never touched it before. It was as if the night before was just a dream, but Raihan was _ sure _it happened—he could remember the way the Swablu felt in his hands, he could remember the tune it was singing until he fell asleep. He looked up to see that the curtains were parted to let bright, warm sunlight into his room, and Raihan couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he at least wasn’t freezing solid like his first day in Sinnoh. 

And three—noticed only when he sat up—that he was completely alone in his bedroom, the only evidence of his pack of dragons being there were Darude’s pillow fort, the etching of Gladiolus’s body in the sofa cushions, and a trail of plastic sheets from the en-suite bathroom leading to the door. His heart shot to his throat as a primal, draconic part of his exhausted mind went on full alert.

Where were his dragons? Where was the pack he swore to care for and protect? 

The dragon inside him roared furiously, and his stomach growled. Raihan’s eyes widened as he realised he was deathly hungry, too. Raihan’s eyes thinned into slits, and he growled lowly, stalking out of bed and peering into the en-suite bathroom to find that Gooms was also missing, but that the plastic sheets were still slightly damp—they were wiped down, it seemed—and the bathtub was still wet. 

Wherever they went, they couldn’t have gone far.

He scurried out of his room in a fit of rage, snarling under his breath as he hurried down the corridor, and back into the dining hall—

“Oh, you’ve finally decided to join us!” 

Raihan stopped in the doorway, the doors he flung open slowly coming to a stop against the wall as he saw Cynthia sitting at the dining table, chewing on a piece of garlic bread. He blinked at her confusedly as she gave him a bright smile, waving at him to come over. 

“Come on, I’m sure you’re starving. Niles heated up some food for you, but I decided to stay and wait.” 

Raihan calmed down slightly, straightening up as he stared confusedly at a Heat Rotom on the table that had a set meal inside it. It dinged pleasantly as he approached cautiously. 

It was a good thing his dragon blood recognised Cynthia as a friend—heaven knows he would’ve hurt her if it didn’t. He looked around nervously at the room, looking for his team, and Cynthia chuckled fondly. 

“If you’re looking for your team, they’re outside. Niles and I let them run around outside to stretch out and get some exercise with my team.” She gestured at the Heat Rotom. “That’s Niles’s partner, Rotom.”

Raihan blinked at the Pokémon as it hummed pleasantly in front of him, before moving back away from the spot on the table, moving closer to the empty confectionary stand in the middle. It gestured at the seat in front of it, and Raihan gingerly sat down, watching it in awe as it opened up, the Rotom moving out of the microwave oven with a flourish. 

He jumped, intent, focused draconic eyes watching the Pokémon’s every move as it flew into the microwave oven, pulling out with it a warm ceramic bowl of soup, still lightly steaming. There was a warm, steaming slice of garlic bread next to the soup on a separate saucer, and Raihan’s eyes widened, jumping in alarm when his stomach suddenly growled loudly.

Cynthia giggled fondly as Raihan’s cheeks darkened, but the Rotom didn’t seem to mind Raihan’s discomfort as it set down the bowl in front of him, before possessing the microwave oven again to fly away from the dining room. He looked over at Cynthia, who nodded at him, gesturing at his meal in front of him.

“Go on, eat. I think you’re on dragon mode right now, since you haven’t said a word.” She smiled. “I’m sure a little bit of food in you will make you Normal-type again.” 

Raihan nodded gingerly, and made a move to bury his face right into his food—

When Cynthia cleared her throat, picking up her spoon, looking at him pointedly.

He laughed nervously, and picked up the spoon as instructed, struggling with it for a moment before he managed to put a spoonful of soup into his mouth. He sighed in contentment as he finally managed to eat properly, and soon he was sitting up, eating heartily and quickly. Cynthia nodded, and turned to a tablet she had with her, scrolling through something she was reading. By the time Raihan had been given a third dish, he was mostly himself again. The first dish had been the soup, and then a deliciously tangy pasta, and finally, a plate of the sweets Cynthia had bought the day before, all brought by Niles’s Heat Rotom, warmed to perfection. Rotom had also brought him a pot of tea, which he downed as quickly as he had with his food, until his third cup, which he decided to deal with at a more sedate pace, embarrassed at the display he was showing Cynthia. 

He sighed in contentment, leaning back in his seat and smiling dreamily as he cut up a chocolate confection with his spoon. Cynthia seemed to be on her second cream puff, humming contentedly as she twirled her fork between her fingers. She looked up at the sound of his sigh, and she gave him a little smile. 

“Are you back, Raihan?” She asked, and he nodded, sitting up with a little huff.

“Sorry,” he said, “I tend to, uh,” he made a vague gesture at himself. “The dragon comes out when I’m tired or hungry.” 

“I can see that.” She chuckled, resting her chin on her hand. “I’m sure it gets bothersome.”

“Kinda,” Raihan laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “But my fia—” He stopped himself, suddenly realising that he’d taken his engagement ring off and left it with his phone back in his room. “Um. Boyfriend and I kinda made a workaround. As long as I’m well fed and stuff, I’m good.” 

“Just like a Dragon-type Pokémon.” Cynthia hummed, nodding. “What about your ruts?”

“Right,” Raihan nodded, “I’ve got… suppressants.” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed sheepishly. “They’re not like the ones breeders use for brood stocks. It’s… actually for humans. Specifically, they were made for me.”

“Oh?” Cynthia blinked, and Raihan nodded. 

“I dunno if you’re familiar with them—they’re called GWeez?”

“Oh!” The blonde nodded. “The anti-roofie drug? I’ve heard of it. It’s not available here in Sinnoh yet, though…”

“Yeah, it isn’t.” Raihan agreed, “That’s why I brought some with me.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “They work like a charm on me. One dose per rut at the peak of hormone surge will do the trick.”

“If things get too bad, do you mind if I administer it?” She asked, and he shook his head.

“Please do it. I don’t want to ever end up hurting anyone.” Raihan sighed, and sat back in his seat. “So, what time is it?”

“A little after lunch.” Cynthia said, and Raihan blinked at her. She gave him a kind smile. “You slept like a log, actually. I’m surprised at how well you slept off your jet lag.”

“I…” Raihan frowned, running his hand through his dreads. “Huh.”

“Is something the matter?” Cynthia asked, cocking her head at him, and he shook his head. 

“It’s just… last night, I’m pretty sure I left the window open.” He said, “But this morning, it was closed.”

“Niles must have closed it.” Cynthia hummed, and Raihan simply nodded, still not quite believing it. “Well, now that you’ve had some food in you, I think it would do you some good to get washed up and dressed. Then, we can—”

“Cynthia,” Raihan said, “Please battle with me.”

She blinked at him, and he looked back at her determinedly. “Please. I want to get started on the Gym Challenge as soon as possible. I _ know _you can enter it at any time—as long as you make it in time to the year’s League Tournament, and I want to get a head start on everything.”

He hesitated, and his hand balled into a fist on his lap as he thought of Leon, alone in Galar.

“I want to make it back as soon as I can.”

“I…” Cynthia shook her head fondly, and chuckled. “Fine. But you have to get dressed first.”

“R-right.” Raihan’s cheeks darkened, and she got up. “I’ll—uh.”

“I’ll see you outside in the garden. There’s a battlefield there.” She said. “If you get lost, don’t hesitate to ask Niles, but I think his Rotom will help you find your way if ever.”

“Thank you.” Raihan nodded, and she strode towards the door. She stopped, and turned to look at him over her shoulder. “C-Cynthia?”

“Just one.” She said, giving him a wink, and he blinked at her confusedly. “I think I can beat you with just one Pokémon.”

Raihan couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face as excitement reared up inside him.

“We’ll see about that.” He said, and she giggled, before walking away.

* * *

“Oh, _ there _you are.” Raihan chuckled, picking his phone up from the bedside table. He paused when he saw his engagement ring on the table under where his phone had been, and he huffed fondly, putting it on his right ring finger. He pulled his glove on top of his hand after that to hide it, and turned back to his phone. “Right. Let’s just see for a second if meeting Swablu last night was real.”

He looked at the lock screen, and blinked in surprise to find a notification for a video message from Leon. He lit up, and opened the message. 

The sight of Leon in his red suit made warmth swell in Raihan’s heart—oh, he already missed him so much. He sat down on his bed with a happy sigh as Leon gave the camera an awkward little smile. 

“_Hi, Rai._” Leon began. “_It’s… the middle of the day right now, sorry I saw your message late. I’d been busy._” He laughed weakly, and rubbed at his eyes. Raihan narrowed his eyes at his fiancé, and realised that Leon had watery eyes. He felt his own tear up—Leon had been _ crying? _ Or sleepless, at least. Red pushed into the frame, whining, and Raihan laughed along with Leon as the long-haired man patted his Charizard’s neck. “_Red misses Gladdie already, too. Swablu is so cute, you should tell me more about it when we call each other again._” Raihan’s eyes widened.

So Swablu coming to his room last night was real. 

He looked at the window, frowning.

Then who closed the window?

“_We can probably manage a call when it’s 6AM for me, 9PM for you._” Leon continued, and Raihan looked back down at the video, his eyes widening in alarm. As if on cue, Leon wagged his finger at the camera. “_And don’t give me any lip about it being too early for me. I used to get up at 5 to run before you started complaining about it!_”

Raihan couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking his head fondly as Leon did the same on the video. “Oh, babe. I love you so much.”

“_Don’t forget—I’m cheering you on, every step of the way._” Leon said softly, and Raihan fell quiet, smiling warmly at his phone. “_I’ll hear from you again tomorrow, maybe?_”

“Of course, Lee.” Raihan murmured. “I won’t be late.”

Leon tried to blow a kiss to the camera, but dissolved into laughter, too embarrassed to do it properly. Raihan felt a warm ache in his chest at the sight of Leon’s smile, and he couldn't stop smiling himself. 

“_I love you so much._” Leon sighed, when he’d calmed down. “_Can’t wait to call you soon._”

The video ended there, and Raihan sighed happily. He lay back in bed, smiling up at the ceiling. 

Seeing Leon again really picked his spirits up. He felt a little bit more like himself whenever he was with his fiancé, and the rage of the dragon inside him was quelled for another moment, for now.

“Lee…” He breathed. “I miss you so much already. I can’t wait to see you again.”

He pressed his phone to his heart, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he basked in the glow of the Sinnoh sunlight.

His journey would begin soon, he knew it. 

“Right.” He huffed, sitting back upright, “Let’s get dressed. I’m pretty sure Gooms is crying her eyes out for me right now.”

* * *

When Raihan made it to the battlefield Cynthia told him about, he lit up to see his team already there, chittering happily as they played with some members of Cynthia’s team. Niles’s Rotom—currently a Wash Rotom—hummed a pleasant little tune as it led him from the laundry room to the battlefield. It gave him a bow when they arrived, and flew back into the house.

Gooms was the first to spot him, lighting up delightedly as she saw her trainer, and Raihan beamed at her as she darted away from her new friends to cuddle him, cheering happily. Raihan burst out laughing as she rubbed their cheeks together. Darude flew over to them too, cuddling close at Raihan’s other side with a happy whine, and Raihan nearly fell over, still laughing as he clung onto his dragons.

“Hey, guys!” He chuckled, and Darude sheepishly helped him get back up onto his feet as Raihan smiled at the sight of Gladiolus making his way over to them, ambling at a more leisurely pace compared to Gooms or Darude. Next to him was Cynthia’s Garchomp, holding Gladiolus’s hand as if worried he’d fall over, and Raihan’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the Pokémon, jumping up to meet them halfway. Cynthia’s Lucario and Glaceon totted after them happily.

“It’s you!” He laughed delightedly, reaching up to pet the Garchomp’s nose, and it purred happily, pressing its snout against Raihan’s palm. “Hey, girl! How’ve you been? You look as healthy as ever!” 

“She’s missed you and your friends.” Cynthia chuckled, and Raihan watched her stride out of a smallish building off to the side of the battlefield. She gestured at it when Raihan raised an eyebrow at her. “This is where they sleep. Wanna take a look?” 

“Sure!” Raihan nodded, and strode up next to her. Together, they walked into the barn, and he lit up to see a few more Pokémon lounging about the area, some of them taking drinks from the communal water trough that was not unlike the one in the Hammerlocke nursery. Her Gastrodon was sleepily swimming in the fountain-like trough, and her Milotic was basking in the water with a happy sigh, letting an Eelectross slither around her body to exercise. Spiritomb was hiding in the corner of the barn, cosily snuggled in a pile of hay, half-asleep. Roserade came up to them, chirruping happily along with Togekiss, and Cynthia giggled as the Togekiss snuggled against her cheek. A Braviary yawned from its perch high above their heads. 

“There’s plenty of space for your team in here,” she said. “I have no doubt you’ll be hitting the road soon, anyway.”

“I know I will.” Raihan nodded determinedly, and turned to look at her. “So let’s battle!”

“Alright.” Cynthia chuckled, and together they went back to the battlefield. She whistled loudly into the air, and Raihan jumped when a _ cloud _came flying in from above the barn. The blonde lit up as a fluffy, blue-bodied Pokémon landed elegantly on the ground next to her, and Cynthia patted its neck. “Raihan, meet my latest team member.” She said, and Raihan gaped at the Pokémon next to her. “This is Altaria.”

“Altaria!” He breathed, his eyes sparkling with awe. “That’s a dragon!”

“Oh?” Cynthia blinked. “You know what an Altaria is?” 

“I met a Swablu last night.” Raihan replied, reaching for her Altaria gingerly. The dragon cooed happily, and pressed her head into Raihan’s palm. He smiled, and gave her a gentle pet. “I asked Rotom what it evolved into.” 

“I see.” Cynthia nodded, humming. “Well, Raihan, I’ll be using her to battle you.” 

“Just her?” Raihan blinked at her, and she nodded confidently. Her Altaria turned to look at her, and she gave it a single nod. It turned back to Raihan to snuggle against his cheek one more time, before bowing to the dragon before her respectfully. 

“Oh, my!” Cynthia smiled, as Raihan smiled fondly, straightening up with a nod of consent at the other dragon, and the Altaria fluttered away in a beautiful white cloud to the battlefield, looking at Cynthia expectantly. “They really _ do _bow to you!”

“Sonia said it was them recognising me as an alpha, or something like that.” Raihan laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he strode to the other side of the pitch. Gooms, Gladiolus and Darude followed him to stand by his side, facing down the Altaria bravely. “Right. Let’s get started.”

He pulled Gooms’s ball out of his pocket, and thrusted it into the air. “Chairman Cynthia! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!” 

“Of course.” Cynthia nodded, and extended her arm to one side elegantly. “I accept, Trainer Raihan!” Her smile widened, and she moved her hand in front of her. “Altaria, go!”

“Gooms, let’s go!” Raihan said, and Gooms nodded determinedly, running out into the field to face the other dragon. Cynthia huffed, smirking slightly as she straightened up, and Raihan thrust his hand out at Gooms. “Rain Dance!”

Gooms threw her head back to roar into the sky, and the clouds above them began to gather. The sky grew dark, and Cynthia’s eyes sharpened at Raihan. 

“I’ve heard of this,” she said, “Of Leader Raihan and his ability to control the weather.” Raihan grinned at her as Gooms straightened up again, rearing up to attack, when Cynthia clicked her tongue, jerking her head at her Altaria. “But that won’t fly here, weatherboy.” 

“What?” Raihan’s eyes widened, thinning into draconic slits as Altaria lifted her head, singing a tune into the sky as she spread her wings. Gooms braced herself nervously, but Raihan shook his head. “Don’t let it get to you! Gooms, use Thunder!” 

Gooms nodded, and reared up, summoning thunder from the clouds above them—

When the sky above them cleared, and the lightning bolt landed on the ground next to Altaria. Raihan jerked back in shock. “_What?_”

“Altaria’s ability is to completely negate the effects of the weather.” Cynthia said, and Raihan’s eyes widened as she shot her hand out in front of herself. “Dragon Claw!” 

“Gooms, get out of there!” Raihan called, and Gooms jumped out of the way as Altaria dove at her. “Get her with a Hydro Pump!” 

“Cotton Guard!” Cynthia barked, and Altaria screeched to a halt, fluffing up her feathers as Gooms fired a blast of water from her maw with a mighty shout. It managed to push Altaria back a few feet, but the dragon held fast after that, standing up easily, like she hadn’t been hit. Raihan clicked his tongue as he shook his head, clenching his fist. 

“We need to make it rain,” he growled, “Otherwise Gooms’s Thunder won’t land.” 

He peered at Cynthia, and grit his teeth. “And I don’t wanna take that risk.” 

“Dragon Dance!” She ordered, and Raihan growled in frustration. 

“Cut her off with a Sludge Bomb!” He countered, and Gooms darted away from the Altaria, spitting poison at her as she twirled up into the air with a beautiful cry. “Don’t let her finish that dance!”

Gooms hurried out of the way, twirling in her step just like Altaria did, and Cynthia blinked at her in surprise as she summoned yet another little cloud above Altaria. Raihan’s eyes widened, and he looked at Gooms.

“You’re… you wanna try?” He asked, and she nodded determinedly. “Okay.” He nodded. “Gooms, Thunder!”

She let out a roar at the sky, but with a dismissive huff, Altaria brushed away the cloud, and only a little shock of electricity hit her, but it barely made a dent in her fluffed-up feathers. 

“No!” Raihan gasped, as Altaria finished her dance, and Cynthia smirked cruelly at him. 

“Altaria! Dragon Claw!” She ordered, and Altaria shot forward at lightning speed towards her. 

“Gooms!” Raihan shouted, and Gooms tried to jump out of the way, but Altaria’s claw caught onto her side, and flung her across the arena. Raihan gasped in shock as she dropped to the ground, and Cynthia’s hand shot out at her Altaria to hold her back as he hurried to check on Gooms. 

She weakly looked up at him, and shook her head. 

He sighed, and nodded, pressing a little kiss to her head before putting her back into her ball. Raihan laughed weakly as he looked at Cynthia over his shoulder. “I gotta admit, you got me there.” 

Cynthia grinned at him. “Welcome to Sinnoh, Raihan.”

“I’ll admit the welcome is pretty warm,” He replied, and nodded at Darude. “You’re up, D.”

Darude nodded, bumping his claws against Raihan’s fist before he flew out onto the field. 

“Ground-type against a flying type?” Cynthia asked, cocking her head. “You sure about that?”

“My boyfriend beat me with my own Flygon, and I was using his Charizard.” He grinned. “I think I can figure out what to do with that.” 

Cynthia nodded, smiling. “I’d like to see it. Altaria, use Dragon Claw!” 

“Darude, use Sandstorm!” Raihan barked, and Cynthia huffed as his Flygon nodded, and threw his head back, letting out a cry as a sandstorm suddenly kicked up. The sight of the Flygon’s unwavering trust in his trainer by obeying in the face of a super effective attack was certainly touching, but didn’t Raihan learn his lesson already with Gooms?

Cynthia clicked her tongue and shook her head. 

“Didn’t I tell you that Altaria can get rid of your weather effects?” She huffed, but Raihan grinned.

“I know.” He said. “Darude! Dodge through the sandstorm!” 

Darude nodded, flying back closer to Raihan as the Altaria charged towards him, claws outstretched and burning with draconic rage as her mere presence seemed to erase the sandstorm around her—

But the heat from her claws, shimmering and quivering with rage, melted the sand and turned it into glass that dug into Altaria’s feathers. Cynthia’s eyes widened in realisation, and she shook her head. “Altaria, retreat!” She barked, but Raihan was quick to act.

“_Our _turn!” He snarled, his eyes thinning to slits, wild with the rush of triumph. “Darude! Dragon Claw!” 

Darude snarled as the last of his sandstorm faded away, and he charged forward, claws at the ready as they wrapped around Altaria’s neck, throwing her to the ground with the force of impact. Altaria let out a cry as she hit the ground, the shards of glass digging into her body too. 

“Now’s your chance!” Raihan called. “_Crunch!_” 

Darude reared back, growling as he opened his mouth—

“Altaria! Block it with Steel Wing!” Cynthia barked, and Altaria threw her wing forward to meet Darude’s attack halfway. They clashed together loudly, and Raihan growled.

“Keep up the pressure, Darude!” He ordered, and Darude pushed harder down, insistently keeping Altaria on the ground to press her harder into it, digging the glass shards into her. “That’s it!” 

“Keep it up, Altaria!” Cynthia called. “Don’t let him through!” 

“And that’s _ exactly _what we need!” He grinned, and the blonde’s eyes widened. “Darude, use Earthquake!” 

“Oh, you!” Cynthia grinned, as Darude roared into Altaria’s face, and the earth began to quiver. “Altaria, Cotton Guard!” 

Altaria fluffed up her feathers as Darude dug his claws closer to her, and she squawked at him angrily, fluffing them up one more time powerfully, launching him off her. She flew into the air as Darude’s earthquake calmed down, cawing into the sky as she spread her wings. 

“Darude, hit her with a Dragon Claw!” Raihan ordered, “Cut through her defenses!” 

Darude let out a cry in acknowledgement, charging forward at Altaria, who looked down at him determinedly. 

“Dragon Claw!” Cynthia ordered, “We’ll see who’s the stronger dragon!” 

Raihan grit his teeth as Altaria’s claws met Darude’s, grappling together in a fierce clash, and his hand balled into a tight fist as he watched them dart apart and clash together again. 

“Darude!” He called, “Follow up with Crunch! Break through her claws!”

“Not on my watch! Altaria, Cotton Guard!” 

“_Again?_” Raihan hissed, as Altaria’s feathers fluffed up again, absorbing most of Darude’s attack. The dragon let out a shocked cry when his fangs got stuck in her fluff, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “Darude, cut yourself free with Dragon Claw!” 

“Allow us,” Cynthia bowed at him grandly. “Altaria, Dragon Claw!” 

Altaria let out a triumphant shout as she swiped at Darude just in time for him to cut himself free, and she threw him back, slamming him against the barrier around the battlefield. Raihan gasped, whirling around to look at his dragon, who shakily got back into the air, wincing, but managing to stay afloat. 

“D, you okay?” Raihan asked, and he nodded. He nodded back at his dragon. “Good boy. Hit her with another Sandstorm!”

Darude roared into the sky, charging forward through the sandstorm as Altaria met him halfway, erasing its very existence with every beat of her wings. 

“Dragon Claw!” Raihan barked, and Cynthia made a move to order Altaria to retaliate, when Darude shot up higher, slashing his claws at the sandstorm above them. A shower of crystallized glass came raining down on both of the dragons, but they simply bounced off Darude’s scales, before catching onto Altaria’s huge fluff, and her eyelashes. She cried out in shock, trying to shake herself loose of the glass shards as Raihan’s smirk widened. He thrust his hand out at Darude, clenching it into a tight fist. “And again! And _ keep _her down!” 

“Altaria, Cotton Guard!” Cynthia grit her teeth, but she was grinning. Raihan was quick on his toes, definitely. It seemed he wasn’t going down without a fight. 

Altaria shielded herself with her wings as Darude pinned her down to the ground again, and before Raihan could even order him to, he let loose another earthquake, dealing damage to Altaria until her struggling grew weaker beneath Darude. 

“That’s it!” He nodded, as the earthquake died out, and Cynthia huffed. 

“Not bad.” She said, “Not bad at all!” 

Raihan grinned at her, but she met his grin with a smirk of her own. 

“But Darude’s almost fainted—and it’s _ our _turn to attack!” She threw out her arm. “One last Steel Wing!”

Raihan’s eyes widened—he looked at Darude, and realised Cynthia was right. The earthquake he summoned took a toll on him, and he could see his dragon was growing tired. He opened his mouth to order him to get out of there, but he already knew Darude wasn’t going to make it—

Not when Altaria moved at lightning speed, darting out from under Darude’s weakened grip, and smacked him in the side _ hard _with her wings. He dropped to the ground, fainted, and Raihan let out a shaky breath, shaking his head fondly as he put Darude back into his ball.

He gave the ball a little kiss. “You did great, buddy.” He murmured, and put it back. He looked at Cynthia, who was grinning at him. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

“You’re not too shabby yourself.” Cynthia nodded. “Altaria’s a pretty good damage sponge, but you’ve managed to deal quite a bit of damage to her with Darude, and a _ Ground-type. _ I’m very impressed.” 

Raihan shrugged. “Not good enough if I can’t beat just the one Pokémon, can I?” He asked, and she chuckled, nodding. 

“Well, that’s what you’ve got me for.” She said. “C’mon. Show me what your Duraludon can do.”

Raihan grinned, and looked at Gladiolus. He nodded at Raihan once, and nimbly ambled onto the field, facing down Altaria, who bowed respectfully at him. He also gave her a nod—an approximation of a bow, given his body shape—and straightened up, ready to fight. 

“Let’s get ready, Gladiolus!” Raihan called, and his Duraludon stanced up. Cynthia gave him a strained little smile, and he gave her a smirk. “No hesitation! Stone Edge!” 

Gladiolus roared, getting down to summon spikes of stones shooting up from the ground, and Altaria quickly dodged out of the way in time with Cynthia’s shout of warning. 

“Use Iron Head and slice them up, throw them up at Altaria!” He ordered, and Gladiolus huffed, his head shining bright as he sliced the tips off of them, before hurtling them at Altaria, keeping her at a distance as she flew out of the way.

“I’ve never seen Stone Edge used like that before!” Cynthia grinned, “Where did you pick that up?”

“My boyfriend.” Raihan grinned, “The greatest Champion Galar has ever known.”

“Champion Leon.” Cynthia nodded sagely. “He handed me my ass during Worlds. I figured he’d be a fantastic teacher.” 

Raihan nodded. “He keeps me on my toes.” 

“A tall task, I’m sure.” Cynthia giggled, and Raihan laughed helplessly, running his hand through his dreads. She shook her head fondly, and threw her hand out at Altaria. “Altaria, Dragon Dance!”

“Don’t let her finish her dance!” Raihan barked, recovering quickly. “Dragon Claw!” 

Gladiolus charged forward as Altaria began to dance, and his claw caught onto her tail feathers. She powered through her dance as the Duraludon plucked a feather out of her, and Cynthia gasped in shock.

“Oh, shit! Sorry!” Raihan gasped, but she shook her head. 

“It’s okay, it wouldn’t come off if it wasn’t molting season!” She called, and Raihan nodded. 

“Well, that’s interesting! Gladiolus, Stone Edge!” He ordered, and Gladiolus summoned another line of stone pillars at Altaria, cutting her off in the middle of her dance as she dodged out of the way to the right. She cawed at Gladiolus angrily, and Gladiolus roared back at her defiantly. “Get her now with a Body Press!”

“Body Press.” Cynthia murmured, grinning. “Interesting choice. Wonder which one of Leon’s team _ that _is for.” She shook her head. “Altaria, Cotton Guard!”

“I swear, you keep using that move.” Raihan grinned, shaking his head as Cynthia chuckled, watching as Gladiolus bounced off Altaria easily as her fluff grew in volume. “Is it used to stall?” 

“To some trainers, it’s used to stall with Toxic, yes.” She nodded. “Depending on your preferred fighting style, that is. I prefer to be a bit more direct, though. Dragon Dance!” 

“I can see that. We’ll just have to break through, then.” Raihan huffed, and Cynthia raised an eyebrow at him. “Gladiolus, use Dragon Claw to give her a haircut!”

“A… haircut.” Cynthia echoed, but she quickly caught on as Gladiolus darted around Altaria as she began to dance. He swung at her—but didn’t hit her.

Instead, Gladiolus’s claw sheared past her, taking off a good chunk of her fluff. Cynthia gaped at Raihan as he cheered in approval, but Altaria did manage to finish her dance, darting away from Gladiolus at breakneck speed.

“You said it was okay!” Raihan said, “Molting season! Molting season!”

“Oh, you cheeky boy.” Cynthia giggled fondly, shaking her head. “Altaria, be careful! We can’t use Cotton Guard again!” 

“Thank _ fuck,_” Raihan hissed. “Gladiolus! Stone Edge!” 

Gladiolus roared at Altaria, summoning another line of stone pillars, and Altaria dodged out of the way. Even before Raihan ordered it, Gladiolus’s head shone, and he sliced off the tips of the stones and knocked them up into the air after Altaria, knocking her to the ground with a helpless shout. 

Cynthia clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Altaria, are you alright?”

She cawed at Cynthia in affirmation, and Cynthia nodded. “Good. I guess we don’t have much of a choice, don’t we?” She asked, and Altaria nodded. “It’s time.” 

“Huh?” Raihan blinked, and Cynthia grinned, holding up her hand. 

“Mega Evolution!” She called, and only then did Raihan realise that Altaria had a little stone tied around her neck, hanging from a lovely golden chain. It had been hidden under all her fluff that he hadn’t noticed, and he and Gladiolus jumped back as Altaria was suddenly enveloped in a bright light, transforming right before their eyes. 

Raihan gaped at the sight, and he looked at Cynthia as the light died down.

“Mega… Evolution?” He echoed, and looked back at Altaria. Her fluff had almost doubled in volume, and there were some on her head. Her wings were covered in fluff, too, and she rose high up into the air like a cloud. Raihan gaped at her as she let out a powerful cry into the air, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Oh, that’s _ brilliant._”

“Unfortunately, you can’t Dynamax here.” Cynthia said, “But then again, back in Alola, you couldn’t do it either.” 

“I’ve been having more vanilla battles lately,” Raihan replied. “I think I can do without Dynamax.” He looked up at Altaria, and whistled. “_That’s _something.” 

“Thank you.” Cynthia giggled. “Now, let’s keep going.” 

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and he thrust his hand out at Gladiolus. “Iron Head!”

Cynthia tried not to look surprised. Raihan mentioned he’d asked his Rotom Phone about Altaria the night before, but she didn’t think he knew that Mega Altaria was a _ fairy-type. _Then again, it could have been a lucky stab in the dark—his reaction told her he didn’t know what Mega Evolving did, at least, and she couldn’t help but smile. The young dragon at least trusted his gut. 

A good sign of a budding Champion in the making.

“Counter it with a Steel Wing!” She ordered, and Altaria let out a cry as she met Gladiolus’s attack halfway, his head and her wing clashing loudly with a loud, grating sound that shot across the battlefield like a bullet. Raihan and Cynthia winced, but their Pokémon quickly parted after that, Gladiolus pushed back by Altaria while she flew back away from him. 

“Let’s settle this once and for all!” Raihan snarled, “Gladiolus! Dragon Claw!”

“Use Dragon Claw as well, Mega Altaria!” Cynthia called, and the two dragons clashed together again in the middle of the battlefield. The two trainers grit their teeth as their dragons clashed together again and again, and Raihan squeezed his fist tighter. 

“Keep at it, Gladiolus! Press on!” He barked, eyes thinning to draconic slits, and Cynthia huffed. 

“Keep up the pressure! He’ll break eventually!” She barked, and Altaria held fast, nodding determinedly. 

Raihan smirked at that, and Cynthia knew she’d done exactly what he wanted her to. 

“Oh, Raihan.” She breathed, as he roared into the air, “_Iron Head!_”

Gladiolus’s head shimmered, and he headbutted Altaria, _ hard. _

Cynthia gasped for a moment, but she realised that her Altaria had fluffed up her feathers—another Cotton Guard, cushioning Gladiolus’s head against hers, and she let go of the breath she held as hope surged in her chest. 

“Now!” She screamed, “Dragon Claw!” 

Gladiolus couldn’t react fast enough as Altaria gave way one of her claws against his, before darting her claws right at his body. Gladiolus’s eyes widened, and he got thrown back. Raihan gasped, hurrying behind him to catch him, roaring loudly as he supported Gladiolus’s weight and withstood the brunt of Altaria’s attack, and the Pokémon jumped in alarm, darting behind Raihan to catch him before he could fall over. Gladiolus slumped down against Raihan’s chest as he found himself buried in Altaria’s fluff, and he looked down at his oldest friend, smiling gingerly. 

“Guess we lost, huh?” He asked softly, and Gladiolus shut his eyes, lowering his head in agreement. “It’s alright.” Raihan pressed a kiss to Gladiolus’s head, and put him back into his ball. “You did great, bud.” Altaria straightened up as Raihan stood up, looking pensively down at his ball, and managed a sad little smile as Cynthia ran up to him. 

Altaria reverted in a flash of light, and Raihan turned to pet her gently, smiling.

“You’re really strong,” he told her, and turned to look at Cynthia, who was smiling fondly at him. “Guess I lost.” He offered her his hand, and she shook it firmly. 

“You were fantastic, Raihan.” She smiled, and he laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, truly. You were quick on your toes, you found a workaround for Altaria’s ability, and hell, you forced me to Mega Evolve.” 

Cynthia patted his shoulder. “You’ve gone above and beyond my expectations, Raihan. Just like back on Alola.” 

He gave her a little grin, and she gestured at his Pokeballs. “Let’s get your team sorted out.” She pulled away from him, and gestured for him to follow her. “I know a place you can have them looked at that’s nearby.”

“Oh, a Pokémon Centre?” 

“Not quite.” She gave him a wink. “Just trust me.” Cynthia strode past him, scratching under her Altaria’s chin, earning her giggles from her Pokémon. “And when we get there, I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise.” Raihan breathed, eyes wide, but he paused, and shook his head. “As long as we get back here by 9.”

“Sure thing.” Cynthia nodded. “You’ve got a boyfriend to call, don’t you?” 

Raihan flushed at that, and she giggled. “I figured as much. The time difference in Galar is a pain, isn’t it? I guess that would be the only sensible time for the two of you to talk.” Cynthia gave him a little salute, and he laughed fondly. “I’ll get you home by 8:30, sir.” 

“Thanks, Cynthia.” He chuckled, and with a gesture from the blonde, they walked together towards her mansion’s garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > cynthia's trying her best [pic.twitter.com/ZuvWCfsxCL](https://t.co/ZuvWCfsxCL)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 21, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1241366251160526850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)


	13. Stat Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, wow.” He breathed, “What species is it?”
> 
> “That’s for us to know, and for you to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > choose your fighter [pic.twitter.com/qoI06ehCUq](https://t.co/qoI06ehCUq)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 29, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1244084109057470464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i unearthed [this massive bastard](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1244076101493817345) from our attic and now he lives on the corner of my bed after being washed and dried thoroughly. i've named him lemons. unfortunately i do not have a thunder stone but i do have the alolan sunshine
> 
> bonus! let me know if you get the references for the pokemon names in the comments below! show your work! i'll confirm the answers in the next update. (*´♡`*)
> 
> anyway. im going stir crazy from the quarantine. i have a fucking WORKOUT ROUTINE. i hate lockdown

Leon bundled himself into his and Raihan’s painfully empty flat with a groan, kicking his boots off with an exhausted grace that he normally wouldn’t show, but now hardly cared about. It was nearing midnight when he arrived at his flat, having overstayed at the Hammerlocke nursery again for the second night in a row, but this time, he’d been there to pick his team up after leaving work later than usual thanks to a conference call in Alola. His and Raihan’s teams were there to stay when he was at work, and he came to pick them up, but a late afternoon tour group of foreign students were there to visit the castle, and Leon was happy to help Villea show them around.

So now, here he was—exhausted, and ready to collapse, but he still had two teams of Pokémon to release into the flat. Yawning, he let them all out into the living room, one by one with a sleepy roll call of sorts as he dropped himself onto the loveseat with a sigh. 

“Patroclus.” Raihan’s Turtonator had the beginnings of a roar bubbling in his throat, but cut it short when he realised where they were. Immediately he dug for Raihan’s closet, and Leon laughed sleepily. 

“Sandie.” The Sandaconda curled his tail around Leon’s ankle, and promptly fell asleep. 

“Rocky.” Raihan’s Gigalith lifted himself lazily from the ground, and settled down next to the Roggenrolla stool. 

“Toasty.” The Torkoal joined Patroclus in Raihan’s closet. 

“Achilles.” The Aegislash gave him a respectful bow, and Leon laughed softly as he settled down next to him, rubbing his hands ineffectively over his shoulders. “Aw, buddy. Thanks for trying.” He stroked Achilles’s shield, and the Pokémon huffed, but continued attempting to massage his trainer. Leon let him be, chuckling fondly. 

“Charlie.” The Mr. Rime gave him a little twirl as he came out of his ball, and Leon clapped tiredly as he bowed at him repeatedly. He skipped over to his trainer to pull Achilles by the hilt away from him, and Leon laughed tiredly. “Hey, play nice now.” 

Achilles wrapped his hands around the other Pokémon’s wrist as Charlie began to dance with him. Leon shook his head, and continued releasing the rest of his team.

“Danny.” His Inteleon gracefully straightened up as he was released from his ball, and looked at his trainer, head cocked. Leon gave him a smile, and waved him over. He sat down next to Leon with a huff, and began to undo his trainer’s braid. “Thanks, bud.” Leon chuckled, and the Inteleon shrugged nonchalantly. Still, he knew Danny was happy to do that, and left him be, watching him straighten out knots with gentle fingers, loosening stubborn knots with a gentle burst of water from his fingertips. Leon petted Danny’s knee as he continued.

“Pistachio.” He released his Dragapult, who yawned sleepily, and Leon smiled. “Fast asleep again?” He asked, and Pistachio’s little girls—Vanilla and Strawberry—peered at him from their little slots on Pistachio’s head. “Hey, girls.” Leon greeted, and they tittered happily, slithering out of their father’s horns to cuddle around Leon’s neck like a scarf, making him giggle as their ethereal bodies tickled his neck.

Danny clicked his tongue as he accidentally let go of Leon’s hair, and Leon gently eased the Dreepy into a more comfortable, non-tickly position around his neck. “Hey, hey! Careful with the merchandise!” 

Danny cocked his fingers at the Dreepy and fired a little splash of water into their faces. They giggled brightly, and Danny grinned slightly, firing again straight into their mouths, which made them squirm happily. Leon laughed along with them, but gently lowered Danny’s hand, making the Inteleon look up at him with a cocked head.

“You’re gonna get me wet.” Leon said, tapping his Inteleon’s nose, and he wiggled it confusedly for a moment. “Are you done with my hair?” He asked, and Danny nodded. “Great. Could you get me some paper towels to dry my hair off?”

Danny nodded, getting up from the couch to head to the kitchen. Leon watched him leave, smiling fondly, and turned to his oldest friend. 

“Red.” The Charizard grunted fondly, and picked up his trainer, gently unwinding Leon’s ankle from around Sandie’s tail. The Sandaconda didn’t seem to mind, but sluggishly followed as Red laid Leon down on top of his bed. 

“Hey, my hair’s still wet!” Leon laughed as Red stuffed himself into the space next to him—trampling all over Raihan’s side, the cheeky thing—to cuddle close, and the rest of Leon’s team noticed, too. His Dragapult was the first to get to them, curling up above his head to keep an eye on his daughters all cuddled up in Leon’s hair. Red huffed and pinned Leon down with his arm as Charlie decided to sleep by Leon’s feet, keeping Achilles next to him. Leon weakly struggled for a moment, but gave up, helplessly laughing as Red cuddled him close like a beloved toy. 

Patroclus looked forlornly at the lack of space on the bed, and Toasty nudged his head against his hand, sitting down to Rocky, already fast asleep to the stool he’d deemed his child. The two Pokémon settled down next to him instead, and Leon gave them a tired little wave.

“Maybe next time, guys!” He called, and Patroclus gave him an affirmative growl. 

Danny strode into the room with a frown on his face, and Leon patted the space next to him, a tiny sliver of space that was left from him and Red on the bed. 

“Sorry, buddy. You can put the paper towels down on the table.” Danny nodded, and set them down on the dining table. “Here’s your spot.” Leon said, and the Inteleon lit up, nodding as he picked up Sandie from the ground. He carried him with him to the bed, gently settling him down on top of Leon (and not without a loud ‘_oof!_’ from his trainer [from the weight](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1239579312853897221)) before settling down himself behind Leon, cuddling close just like he did when he was a Sobble. 

“Geez,” Leon laughed softly as the Pokémon all cuddled against him. “With you all piling on top of me, it looks like _ you’re _the clingy ones, not me.” 

Red looked at him intently, and Leon sighed, settling down, uncaring for the fact he hadn’t gotten dressed for bed at all. He was already letting the Pokémon sleep on the bed—it could take some outside clothes. It wasn’t like Raihan would be there to see him and tease him about it, anyway. 

“I’m…” Leon sighed. “I’m the clingy one.” 

Red huffed comforting warm air into his air—Vanilla and Strawberry’s chittery protests notwithstanding—and Leon smiled as he nodded, holding Red’s hand gingerly. 

“Tomorrow, I’ll see him.” He said. “I miss him already, but it’ll be okay.” 

Leon shut his eyes, finally feeling his fatigue wash over him. 

“Goodnight, guys.” He mumbled, as Red rumbled quietly, almost purring against his body as Leon quickly sank into deep sleep. “I’ll… see you in the morning.”

Leon’s Rotom Phone buzzed in his pocket, and Danny pulled it out, looking at it intently. He chirruped at it quietly, and Rotom nodded. 

“_Setting the alarm!_” It said, “_What time?_”

Danny looked at Red, who growled lowly. 

“_6AM!_” Rotom confirmed, and Danny nodded, reaching for the bedside table—but his arm came short. He frowned, unwilling to move, when Pistachio’s tail waved over him. He jumped slightly as the Dragapult’s tail phased through his hand, but lifted the Rotom Phone along with it, carrying it gently to the table and setting it down. Danny looked up at Pistachio, who was very intently pretending to sleep, but his little girls were giggling happily as they used Leon’s hair as blankets. He smiled slightly, and met Red’s gaze.

Nothing to it, really, Red thought. They were there to take care of Leon while his dragon human was away, after all.

Danny huffed, and settled down to sleep. 

Red stayed awake—he kept first watch tonight. Danny would be up in a few hours after him.

* * *

Cynthia took Raihan to a tall building that was completely unlike a Pokémon Centre, and Raihan gaped up at it as they stepped out of her car. 

“Is this…” He said absently, as Cynthia’s Altaria and her Garchomp jumped out from the back, stretching out with twin yawns. He turned to look at her as she walked up to him, smiling knowingly. “Where are we?”

“This is Professor Rowan’s lab.” She gestured at the door, and Raihan blinked at her. “I wanted you to meet him, and his team can have a look at your team while we’re there.”

“Oh, alright.” Raihan nodded absently, following her as she strode forward. She rang the doorbell by the door, before swiping a card she pulled out of her wallet. The door clicked open, and she looked at Raihan, gesturing for him to come in. 

“Shall we?” 

He gave her an uneasy grin, and nodded. 

“After you.” He replied, and Cynthia shook her head fondly, striding in.

* * *

Professor Rowan had been a research fellow alongside Professor Magnolia, apparently, at some point. They were colleagues in the same department during their doctorate studies in Kalos, but that was the extent of what Magnolia had told Raihan during his farewell dinner on his last night in Galar. Raihan didn’t quite know what to expect of the man—but he was surprised to see a few bottles of whiskey in a glass cabinet behind the man as he and Cynthia strode into Rowan’s lab. 

The man poured himself a glass, and then poured a different drink—also from a crystal bottle—for Cynthia, and tipped his glass at Raihan. 

“Any preferences, my boy?” 

“I’ll have what you’re having.” Raihan grinned, and Rowan nodded, huffing proudly as he poured Raihan some whiskey, handing it to him in a crystalline glass not unlike his own. “I don’t suppose you offer these to new trainers when you hand them their starters?”

“Heavens, no.” Rowan chuckled. “Though perhaps to old friends,” He nodded at Cynthia, who raised her drink—pink, in a crystal glass carved like a rose—and nodded back at him. “And to new acquaintances embarking on an old journey, I might.” He nodded at Raihan, who grinned at him, and raised his own glass. “Have my assistants taken your team?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, taking a sip of the whiskey, and whistled. “_Oh. _That’s the stuff.” 

Rowan chuckled, swirling his drink. “You’ll get used to it.” He said, and took a sip as well. “Now, it’s nice to finally meet you, Raihan. All I’ve heard of you is from Cynthia, and, recently, from my old friend Professor Magnolia.” 

“Oh, she mentioned that you were colleagues, yeah.” Raihan nodded, and held his hand out for Rowan to shake. “It’s nice to meet you too, Professor Rowan.”

Rowan nodded, shaking Raihan’s hand firmly, and they pulled apart. “Now, Cynthia told me that you’re here to train to become Champion of the Sinnoh region. Normally, my duty to trainers setting off onto the Gym Challenge is to give them their starter, but I understand that you were once a trainer like that, back in Galar.” Rowan considered his glass, and huffed. “And I would not want to insult your skill by offering a Sinnohan starter, when you didn’t use a Galarian starter on _ your _first journey.”

“I didn’t, yes.” Raihan nodded, and Cynthia blinked at him in surprise. His cheeks darkened, and he rubbed the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly. “I guess you wouldn’t know, Cynthia. I actually ran away from home with my Duraludon and a Trapinch to join the Gym Challenge when I was 12, almost 13.” 

“Oh, that’s a little older than the usual age.” Rowan commented, and Raihan shook his head. 

“Actually, children normally don’t get to join the Galarian League.” He said, “You need an endorsement from someone authorised or recognised by the League first, and normally children just aren’t given those, at least until they have been trained properly by an authorised figure or they’ve completed the Minor League.”

“What about Leon, then?” Cynthia asked.

“He got an endorsement from Professor Magnolia.” Raihan said, and Cynthia nodded slowly. 

“And what about you?” Rowan asked, and Raihan looked sheepish. 

“I’m part of Galarian nobility.” He admitted, and fiddled with the rim of his glass. “I hate to admit this, but I basically pulled rank to endorse myself and register for the Gym Challenge.”

“I see.” Rowan said, and gestured for him to continue. “Well, what matters is that you’re here. If Cynthia here can see how much you love Pokémon and battling with them, I have no qualms with how your journey started.” 

Raihan looked up at him, eyes wide in wonder. The man gave him a little smile.

“Now, back to your journey in Sinnoh.” Rowan tapped his table lightly. “Since I can’t give you a starter, I’d like to at least help you develop your team further. My team has taken the liberty of scanning your Pokémon to see their strengths and weaknesses, so you can decide on how to improve them.” 

Raihan blinked at him. “I’ve… never actually done that.”

“What?” Cynthia spluttered, “You’re a _ Gym Leader, _and you’ve never had your Pokémon’s stats looked at?”

Raihan flushed at that, hiding behind his hand, and Rowan chuckled fondly. 

“Well, stat check or no, I’m sure whatever Raihan has been doing has worked, if he is Chairman Leon’s true rival for a decade.” Rowan said placatingly, and Raihan shot him a grateful look. “Still, if you want to push past just being rivals and becoming _ Champion, _ then you must, at least, consider your Pokémon’s quantifiable traits.” Rowan finished off his drink with a content sigh, and got up. “Now, if you please, do follow after me.”

Raihan and Cynthia finished off their drinks, too, and got up to follow Rowan out of his office.

* * *

Raihan squinted down at the tablet one of Rowan’s grad students handed him, frowning. “Huh.”

“Let me see?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan handed her the tablet. She nodded sagely at the numbers before them, falling quiet to think it over. Raihan let her be, and looked up past the glass dividing them from the rest of the lab, where he could see his team in their own cots, recovering from being fainted. Gladiolus was already sitting up, gingerly waving his legs to and fro, and Raihan couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Gladiolus’s stubby legs swinging casually. He took his phone out and began to record it, and Cynthia chuckled at his response to the sight, but said nothing about it. 

Darude was still unconscious, but looking _ very _comfortable cuddled up against a perfectly fluffed up pillow. Gooms was in a plastic container with a waterbed at the bottom, not unlike her seat back on the plane from Galar. She was nibbling on a Pecha Berry one of Rowan’s lab assistants handed her, looking a little petulant at losing the battle first. Raihan smiled fondly at that, and took a photo of his pouting Goodra. 

“You sure like taking photos of them.” Cynthia said, and Raihan laughed softly as he got to work on making social media posts of his recent captures. “Though I wouldn’t blame you. My team all do cute things that I wish I had the presence of mind to capture on camera.” 

“I’m used to taking photos, it’s almost a hobby at this point.” Raihan explained. “I’m a little addicted to social media.”

Cynthia clicked her tongue. “Ah, the youth these days!” She huffed, and Raihan burst out laughing. She grinned at him, but settled down. “But I suppose it’s a good thing to be active on social media. It would certainly help with your boyfriend’s loneliness if he saw you online often.”

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed, and gestured at the tablet. “So, what’s the verdict, Coach?”

Cynthia pulled a face, but she quickly sobered up despite Raihan snickering at her. “Well, for starters, it seems Gladiolus is strong in the special attack category. You might want to change your tactics with him, first, since he’s your ace.”

“Oh.” Raihan said faintly. “All this time…” 

“It’s no big deal, remember?” The blonde said reassuringly, “What you had works. We’re only trying to make things _ better._” She poked his nose, and he wiggled it slightly. “So don’t forget to have your team back in Galar scanned for stats too, alright?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Raihan drawled, but he was smiling. “I think we can work with this.”

“It would make me very happy to help if you could.” Rowan said from behind them, and Raihan turned around to see the man striding into the lab, carrying with him a Pokémon egg. Raihan’s eyes widened and his jaw fell slack as Cynthia gently nudged him. 

“That’s the surprise.” She said, and Raihan gaped at them both as Rowan gently set the egg down into his arms. He gingerly carried it like a baby, stroking the smooth speckled surface with nothing short of awe. 

“Oh, wow.” He breathed, “What species is it?”

“That’s for us to know, and for you to find out.” Cynthia winked at him, and he laughed fondly, shaking his head. “Though I suppose you already know, since we’ve talked about it before.”

“My own Sinnohan Pokémon, huh.” Raihan smiled fondly down at the egg, and Cynthia’s eyes softened on him. “Cynthia?”

“Let me take a picture of you.” She said, “Your smile is lovely right now.”

Raihan laughed softly, but she took his phone from him and snapped a quick photo of Raihan carrying the egg like a baby, and then another photo of him holding it up close to his cheek, and another with an awkwardly-smiling Rowan, and finally, another with Cynthia in the picture, her face in the corner as she took an awkward selfie. 

“I don’t think I share your skill in photography.” She chuckled as Rowan and Raihan looked the photos over with her, but Raihan shook his head. 

“The fact you took them already means a lot to me, Cynthia.” He said, and she gave him a sweet smile. “Thank you.” 

The egg suddenly wiggled in his arms, and all of them jumped, looking down at it as Raihan lit up. 

“Well, well!” Rowan laughed. “It’s certainly very lively! Cynthia said it’s due to hatch anytime this coming week.” 

“Really?” Raihan breathed. “I can’t wait to meet it.” 

“Me too.” Cynthia huffed. “That was a bitch and a half to breed.” 

Raihan burst out laughing at that, and held the egg close to his chest. “Thanks, truly.” He said, “I’ll make sure to treasure this little guy.”

The egg wiggled again, as if in affirmation, and Cynthia and Rowan shared a fond smile. 

One of Rowan’s lab aides approached them timidly, holding up five Pokéballs. 

“Oh, thanks.” Raihan gave one of them a lopsided grin, picking up Darude, Gooms and Gladiolus’s Pokéballs, and Cynthia took her Altaria and Garchomp from them, giving the aide a sweet smile before they hurried away.

“Well, since the two of you are already here, why don’t we have dinner together?” Rowan said, and Cynthia nodded.

“That sounds wonderful.” She replied, and gave Raihan a cheeky little grin. “As long as we make it back home before 8:30. Mr. Loverboy here has a call to make.”

Raihan’s cheeks darkened at that, but he grinned widely as Rowan laughed fondly into his hand.

“Oh, if I was an ocean apart from my partner, I’d call them every night, as well.” Rowan huffed, and patted Raihan’s shoulder. “You’ve got my support, my boy!” He nodded. “Now, let’s hurry! Cynthia takes her sweet time choosing anything!” He pulled Raihan along with him out the door, laughing, and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“I do _ not!_” Cynthia spluttered, but she hurried after them, dissolving into laughter herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cynthia, stat checking raihan: ok sweetie time to throw out the whole moveset  
raihan, resolutely shaking his head: we're keeping the most important bits
> 
> the important bits:
>
>> im planning the changes cynthia and raihan will work together on his team but there will be one (1) thing that remains [pic.twitter.com/yLb9xHDcXT](https://t.co/yLb9xHDcXT)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [March 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1242728406615117826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)


	14. First Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rai.” Leon breathed, unable to stop smiling. “H-hi. _Hi._”
> 
> “_Hey, babe._” Raihan smiled. “_Hi._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > ANIPOKE RAIHANNNNNN THANK YOU SOOO MUCHHH [pic.twitter.com/il7qKbeCZC](https://t.co/il7qKbeCZC)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 5, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1246733088681365504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> MOM HOLY SHIT RAIHAN IS IN THE ANIME !!!!! I'M SO HAPPY I UPDATED LMAO
> 
> also im big upset that we're still in lockdown. i start on a new job this 13th, and i can't believe my orientation will be done online skldjsjkd oh well! what-fucking-ever, i guess!!
> 
> answers from last chapter's nickname hunt!  
**Raihan's team:**  
\- Gladiolus (Duraludon) - in flower language, it means "strength"  
\- Darude (Flygon) - I Do Not Need To Explain This  
\- Gooms (Goodra) - he was 13 when he named his first (wild) Goomy. please. he sucks  
\- Sandie (Sandaconda) - named by Hop when he was 5!  
\- Rocky (Gigalith) - Rocky Balboa as portrayed by Mr. Stallone!  
\- Patroclus (Turtonator) - to match with Achilles!
> 
> **Leon's team:**  
\- Red (Charizard) - named after the Legend Trainer Red. Red was given to Leon _by_ Red, actually!  
\- Achilles (Aegislash) - named by Rose when he was given as a gift to Leon.  
\- Charlie (Mr. Rime) - Charlie Chaplin!  
\- Danny (Inteleon) - from Daniel Craig, my favourite Bond!  
\- Pistachio (Dragapult), Strawberry & Vanilla (Dreepy) - the historical flavours of Neapolitan!  
\- Calanthe (Haxorus) - named after an orchid as a dragon from Hammerlocke.  


Red woke up to the sound of Leon’s phone vibrating. He lifted his head past the bedhead that Vanilla and Strawberry left of Leon’s hair to see Danny fumbling with it, looking panicked as he looked at Red with a pleading expression on his face. Red shook his head, and let out a soft growl. 

The Rotom in Leon’s phone buzzed pleasantly, and flew up above Leon, the call patching through. 

“_Babe! I was worried that you—oh?_”

Red and Danny looked up at Raihan’s grinning face in the phone display, and Danny chirped quietly at him in greeting. Strawberry and Vanilla untangled themselves from Leon’s hair to look up at Raihan, and they chittered happily. 

Raihan laughed softly. 

“_Oh, that’s so cute._” He said softly. “_Thanks for watching over him, guys._”

The sound of Raihan’s voice woke Sandie up from where he was coiled up on top of Leon’s stomach, and he slowly moved forward, hissing softly as he crushed Leon’s chest, startling him awake.

“What the fu—” Leon stammered, jerking awake, but Raihan burst out laughing. His heart shot to his throat, and he looked up at his phone to see Raihan smiling down at him. His eyes welled with tears as Red gently helped him sit up, Danny smoothing his hands over his hair as Strawberry and Vanilla wrapped themselves around his neck again. Leon’s phone moved back to let Raihan see all of the Pokémon around Leon on the bed, as well as Patroclus, Rocky and Toasty off to the side, all delighted to see their trainer. 

“Rai.” Leon breathed, unable to stop smiling. “H-hi. _ Hi._”

“_Hey, babe._” Raihan smiled. “_Hi._”

Leon laughed sheepishly as he wiped at his eyes, and Raihan’s smile was so lovingly sweet that a dull ache of longing panged in Leon’s chest. 

“_You okay?_” Raihan’s voice was soft, and Leon could hear the ambient sounds of the night from beyond his bedroom window. “_Danny and Red answered the call for you._”

“Really?” Leon looked at his Pokémon, and Red huffed proudly, while Danny hid behind his hand sheepishly. He smiled at them sweetly, and pressed a kiss to their cheeks. “Good boys. Thanks, guys.”

“_Daaaamn it, I want that too!_” Raihan whined, and Leon finally managed to laugh, blowing him a raspberry as he kissed Sandie, too. “_Not fair!_”

“Be patient, and I’ll kiss you whenever you want.” Leon grinned at him, and Raihan smirked back at him. 

“_Whenever I want?_”

“Whenever.” Leon nodded sagely. “Because when we get married, it won’t matter when I kiss you or not. I’d be your husband then, and I have the right to kiss you.”

Raihan fell quiet at that, and Leon stopped, pursing his lips in realisation at what he just said. He looked at Raihan to realise his fiance’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment, and he looked like he was trying very, _ very _hard not to look too flustered by Leon’s surprisingly frank statement. 

“_Uh._” Raihan said after a long moment, and Leon blinked at him. “_I love you too, Lee._”

Leon sighed, running his hand through his hair, and laughed tiredly. 

“I need coffee, I think.” Leon said, and Raihan whistled, laughing softly. 

“_Coffee? Not our usual in the mornings. How’s work? Is it stressing you out?_”

“A little.” Leon sighed. “But it’s not anything unusual. The Motostoke project is sooner than I realised, and… well…” Leon laughed sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head. “I miss you.” 

“_Me too._” Raihan smiled. “_I miss you so much already._”

Leon’s eyes welled up with tears, and Raihan tutted.

“_Babe, don’t cry, you’re gonna make me cry too._” He said, and Leon laughed softly, shaking his head as Red licked at his face comfortingly. “_Oh, speaking of babies—here’s my team!_” 

He panned his camera to the rest of his room, and Leon lit up at the sight of Gooms, Gladiolus and Darude posing for the camera, as was the wont of all the dragons of Hammerlocke. Leon laughed fondly as Red, Danny and the rest of the Pokémon around him jumped up to see them, cooing happily at the sight of their friends. 

“Hold on, I’ll let you see the others with me.” Leon said, when Raihan came back on screen, and Leon slowly panned his camera around the room, too, showing Raihan the rest of his team along with Leon’s team all packed into their bedroom. Raihan greeted them all one by one as they passed by, and when he and Leon were facing each other again, Raihan blew him a kiss.

“_I thought you said no outside clothes on the bed?_” He teased, and Leon rolled his eyes. 

“Laundry day today.” He blew Raihan a raspberry. “Villea’s coming over later to take the sheets.” 

“_Fair enough, fair enough._” Raihan shrugged. “_So, how have things been going on there? Anything troublesome lately?_”

“No, not really.” Leon shook his head. “The Gym Ranking Tournament is keeping me busy.” 

“_Oh, right. Should be this coming Saturday, right?_” Raihan asked, and Leon nodded. “_That’s pretty close. Hopefully things will go well. With Team Rocket appearing in Galar, I’m not too sure if they’ll decide to pull shit. Apparently, they’ve also tried shit here in Sinnoh._”

“Really?” Leon blinked, and Raihan nodded. 

“_Yeah, Cynthia told me about it._” He said. “_So you might wanna beef up security by just a little bit. Don’t make it obvious you’re preparing for them, but don’t get surprised if someone decides to do something on the day._”

“Got it.” Leon nodded, frowning. 

“_I wouldn’t wanna miss out on that Sena guy and the way he fights._” Raihan laughed, and Leon deflated. “_I’ve never seen an Alolan Raichu before—we never ran into one of those back on the Battle Tree in Alola, right?_”

“He, um.” Leon began, and Raihan fell quiet. “You won’t get to see Lemons fight, Rai.”

Raihan blinked at him for a moment, before realisation set in. “_Oh, fuck. He got hit by Dexit, didn’t he?_” 

“Yeah.” Leon sighed. “I’m worried about him, but I haven’t had the chance to ask about him. I figured leaving him alone for a while would help, so I don’t waste his time looking for a new team by taking some of it.”

“_I think that’s for the best._” Raihan frowned. “_But from the way I saw him battle at Thornton Station, I don’t think he’s the type to give up that easily._”

Leon looked up at him blearily. “You think so?”

Raihan shrugged. “_The man loves a pretty face. He won’t let you down._”

Leon flushed at that, and he gave Raihan a withering grin. “Someone’s not that jealous?”

“_Hey, I can respect a guy who appreciates how pretty you are._” Raihan blew him a raspberry. “_And besides, I know you can take care of yourself. I’m not a possessive knucklehead, you know._”

“Sure you aren’t.” Leon rolled his eyes, and Raihan made a face at him. He laughed softly, hearing Rotom’s distinctive _ click _of a screenshot taken, and he shook his head. “I also started working on the Dexit issue. Hop volunteered Victor to help me out after the Ranking Tournament.” Raihan nodded at that, and Leon rested his chin on his hand. “Your turn. How’s things in Sinnoh?”

“_Well, I’m apparently kinda famous here, too._” Raihan said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “_Some of my adverts in Galar made it to Sinnoh. I saw you on some screens too, actually._” 

“Whoa, really?” Leon flushed.

“_Yeah. Some people know who you are, too._” Raihan grinned. “_Had a lot of fans waiting for me and Cynthia at the airport. When I got to the mansion, I basically dropped into bed and died._”

Leon chuckled at that, shaking his head. 

“_Though I did have a visitor that night, you know it—Swablu._” Raihan said, and Leon nodded. 

“Tell me more about it.” Leon smiled, his eyes sparkling with wonder.

“_It’s cute as shit, Lee. Softer than anything else, too._” Raihan said, “_It was warm and fits perfectly in the palms of your hand. Really sweet, too._” 

“Oh, I wish I got to meet it.” Leon sighed, and Raihan shrugged. 

“_Actually, I’m planning on catching a Swablu during my journey._” He said. “_Apparently, it evolves into a dragon—Altaria. I actually had a battle against one today._”

“Really?” Leon blinked. “With whom?”

“_Cynthia. Apparently that Altaria had my name on it _” Raihan laughed. “_She caught a Swablu and trained it up just as a countermeasure to me._”

“That sounds very, _ very _specific.” Leon laughed softly. “What for?”

“_Altaria’s ability is to cancel the effects of weather. Essentially, it makes the sun come out when it rains or hails, or any other kind of weather my opponent decides to throw at me._” Raihan explained. “_It was like Altaria was made specifically as a ‘fuck-you’ to me, and I’m not even mad._”

Leon laughed at that, and Raihan nodded sagely. 

“_Apparently, she wanted catharsis for what she did for me, and honestly, I don’t mind at all._” Leon stopped laughing at that, cocking his head as Raihan reached for something off-camera. 

“Rai?” He asked, but he went quiet, eyes widening in surprise when Raihan pulled a wiggly little egg onto his lap. “Is that…”

“_It’s an egg!_” Raihan cheered, lifting it to let Leon see it a bit better. “_They won’t tell me what species this is, but apparently Cynthia said it was a bitch and a half to breed._” He snickered, stroking its smooth surface tenderly. “_I’m hoping it’s a Garchomp baby._” 

“Garchomp…” Leon breathed. “I can’t wait to meet it, regardless.”

“_Me too._” Raihan beamed at him, but sobered up quickly enough. “_Y’know… I tried to rush into this as fast as I could._” He said, and Leon blinked at him. “_I asked Cynthia when I could join the Sinnohan Gym Challenge, and she said that I could, only when I beat her._” 

“Did you?” Leon asked softly, and Raihan shook his head, huffing. 

“_Nah._” He said. “_Turns out I wasn’t maximising my team’s potential._” He said. “_She took me to see the region’s leading Pokémon Professor—that Professor Rowan that Professor Magnolia mentioned?_”

“Right, right.” 

“_Him, yeah? His team had a look at Gooms, Darude and Gladiolus and I found out that day about stat checking._” Raihan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “_Did you ever do something like that when you were Champion?_”

Leon deflated slightly, looking down at his hands. 

“Yes.” He said, and Raihan shook his head exasperatedly. “Rose frequently had my team stat checked.” He looked at Danny, who had fallen back asleep beside him, and remembered the time when the Inteleon was a Sobble, crying out for Leon’s comforting touch while he was held down on an examination table. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a moment to breathe, and when he opened his eyes again, he looked at Raihan, who was looking at him with concern in his eyes.

“_I’m sorry._” He said, “_I must’ve unearthed something._”

“It’s alright.” Leon said, shaking his head. “I’m getting better, I promise.” 

“_I believe in you._” Raihan smiled at him softly, and Leon smiled back at him. “_So, that’s where we’re at in Sinnoh. I’m back to basic training with Cynthia starting tomorrow, but we’ve already set a time when we’ll watch the tournament in Galar this weekend by livestream. It’ll be at Wyndon Stadium, right?_”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. “I’ll be in the stands, sorry.” He sighed, and Raihan shrugged easily. “I won’t be able to be with you for a lot of it.” 

“_Maybe now’s a good time to make use of that VIP box, huh?_” Raihan asked, and Leon froze.

_ Rose set his hand down on top of Leon’s shoulder. _

_ “Now, watch carefully, alright?” _

Leon shook his head, just as Raihan’s expression fell. 

“_Shit, sorry._” He said, and Leon gave him a weak little smile. 

“It’s okay. I think there’s another private box I can use in the stadium, but it needs renovating. I’ll get to work on it, so we can watch competitions together. How’s that?” 

“_Sounds like a plan._” Raihan nodded. “_Lee, you know I love you, right?_”

“No matter what.” Leon smiled, and Raihan smiled back at him. He could feel a weight lifting off his soul as he stroked Raihan’s face gently on the screen. “I love you too.” 

Raihan’s smile was so soft, Leon wanted to kiss him. 

“_So, this time is a good time for us to talk?_” Raihan asked, after a moment of tender silence.

“Yeah.” Leon nodded, “I promise I’ll wake up on time next time.” He laughed softly. “I really was just so busy yesterday.” He yawned lightly, and stretched out, dissolving into laughter when he heard Raihan wolf whistle at him. “Oh, shut up.”

“_I love you too._” Raihan grinned. “_Okay. We’ll talk at this time, or a little later, if His Majesty wants to sleep in a little bit more, I don’t mind._” He gave Leon a wink, and Leon blew a raspberry at him. “_I promise I’ll answer whenever I can. I’ll be uploading a vlog a little later, too._”

“I’ll make sure to watch it.” Leon sobered up, smiling. “Well, I better get going. An early morning means an early start.”

“_Don’t forget to have breakfast._” Raihan said sternly. “_I don’t want you to lose that thick ass when I get back home._”

“Not in front of the children, Raihan!” Leon laughed, and the both of them burst out laughing, much to the confusion of the Pokémon around them. “I love you. Call you again tomorrow.”

“_I love you too, Leon._” Raihan gave him a little wave. “_I’ll see you soon._”

The call cut, and Leon sighed, dropping himself down on the bed. All of the Pokémon around him looked at him expectantly, and he laughed, shaking his head. 

“Right, right, breakfast.” He huffed, pulling himself up onto his feet. “It’s coming, it’s coming.”

He tied his hair up with a rubber band hanging from the curved tail of a Charizard-shaped kitchen timer on their fridge, and got to work setting out the Pokéfood into large dishes for them to eat from. He poured a bag of soft, senior Pokémon-formulated Pokéfood into a separate dish for Sandie, and gestured for the other Pokémon to eat in the dining area of his and Raihan’s flat. Leon strode over to Sandie and set his food down onto the ground, before putting the Sandaconda down next to his dish so he could eat. 

Danny and Red—bless these two, truly—had begun heating a kettle of water for him on Red’s tail, and Leon laughed fondly, toasting a few scones on Red’s tail, too, much to the chagrin of his Charizard. 

When Leon managed to settle down, drinking straight from his tea kettle and eating a slightly charred scone, he looked at himself in the reflective surface of the fridge, and whistled. 

“I look like shit.” He said, and sipped at his kettle. “At least Villea isn’t here yet…”

He jumped when his phone buzzed, but before he could answer it, the doorbell rang. 

Leon laughed to himself tiredly as Villea let herself in, and he gave the surprised woman a tired wave.

Villea gave him a long look, before beginning with, “... Hullo, Chairman. Good morning.”

What an image he must have made—his hair a literal _ mane, _dark rings under his eyes, pallid skin and the worst wrinkles his suit had ever seen in its life. 

“Good mornin’.” Leon’s Postwick drawl was back. “I think I’ve lost control of my life.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leon is all of us when we saw raihan in the anipoke.
>
>> nice. (it's the sea between us.) [pic.twitter.com/MiecXGqkCL](https://t.co/MiecXGqkCL)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 2, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1245645031983087617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> nice 


	15. Sunny Yellow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look to the future, Sena.” He said, “Be confident—because _I_ believe in you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > "why the hell is the sea between us slow as shit also why is it almost 80k now?" because andrew lloyd weber taught me that anything can be good if you go hard on it 1000x
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 20, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1252262358627434496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> it's been a while and i do not know if people are still around but i do know this is going to underperform so let's get it out of the way.
> 
> yes, this is a filler chapter, yes, you can skip if it you like. an update is coming in a few days, anyway.
> 
> it's wholesome family hours, lads.

“Two days to go, Mister Chairman.” Ricki said pleasantly, setting down a folder in front of Leon, who looked up at her with a blank expression. She cocked her head at him, and waved her hand in front of his face. “Chairman?” She asked. “Uh… Mr. Leon, are you alright?”

“What?” Leon said, after a long moment of awkward silence, and Ricki cleared her throat. 

“You, uh… were spacing out there.” She said, and he looked back down at his desk with a sigh. “Are you okay?” Ricki asked. 

“I think so.” Leon sighed. “I guess it’s just the Ranking Tournament that’s keeping me really busy.” He looked at the folder she put down in front of him, and made a face. “Speak of the Grimmsnarl and he shall appear.” He mumbled, and Ricki giggled behind her hand. 

He leafed through the papers, shaking his head. “What was it you were saying, Ricki?”

“Two days to go.” She said. “Two days, and it’ll be out of your hair.” 

Leon snorted. “Finally.” He replied, and came to a stop at a paper, wide-eyed.

“By the way, the League staff were asking me who the ju—”

“_Judges!_” Leon gasped. “Fuck, I completely forgot that was a thing!” 

Ricki laughed fondly, shaking her head. “That’s what I was gonna ask too, sir.” She said. “It’s okay—this is your first Ranking Tournament in a few years, and your first time _ running _one.” Ricki leafed through the folder in Leon’s hands, and gestured at a page with a few photos of people on it, with their name and contact details beneath their photos.

“You’ll need just two for the Minor League Ranking Tournament.” Ricki explained. “Four, for the Major League, and you’ll have to fly in two people for the Major League.” 

“Minor League can just be Galarian veterans, right?” Leon sighed, and Ricki nodded. He nodded, leaning back in his seat with a sigh as he crossed his arms. “Would it be too much if I called Mustard, I wonder…”

“Mustard, sir?” Ricki asked.

“My old mentor, he lives on the Isle of Armour.” Leon explained. “The old Champion of Galar way before I became Champion.”

“Oh, the 18-year streak guy!” Ricki jumped. “He was your _ mentor? _No wonder!”

Leon gave her a weak little grin. “Nothing to it. Uh, is the line to the Isle of Armour operational yet?”

“Not since the recent storm surge, I’m afraid.” Ricki shook her head. “I’ve heard from my friend that Leader Avery and Leader Klara did make it back before the line got cut off.” 

“That’s good.” Leon sighed, slumping down against the table. “Well, _ that’s _out of the count…” He peered at the photos on the table, and frowned. “Ricki, could you see if we can still have Mustard when the tournament rolls around. I’ll go look for someone else in the meantime.”

“Of course.” Ricki nodded, and headed out of his room. Leon looked at his phone, groaned, and sat up straight. 

“Okay, alright…” He mumbled, “Let’s do this.”

* * *

“Unfortunately, no, I can’t.” 

Beyond him, an explosion shook the area around him, and Kabu clicked his tongue, turning around to find where it came from. 

“_What was that?_” Leon sounded shocked, and he could hear the clattering of his chair. He must have stood up, Kabu realised, and he sighed. “_Are you alright?_”

“I’m fine.” Kabu replied. “No, Chairman, you don’t have to come over.”

“_Where are you?_” Leon asked. “_That doesn’t sound like Motostoke Stadium._”

“No, of course not. I let my trainers take a holiday.” Kabu said, huffing fondly as he saw a tiny Joltik shoot into the air, latching onto the Pidove it was battling. “I’m in the Wild Area.”

“_Oh, I see…_” Leon mumbled. “_Would it be alright if I asked why you can’t judge for the Minor League Ranking Tournament?_”

“Good job, Petey! Now, Electroweb!” Sena threw his hand out at the Joltik, panting heavily as he ran after them, and he lit up when the little bug let out a tiny cry, enveloping the Pidove with a net of electricity. 

Kabu smiled fondly, wiping at his brow with the towel around his neck. 

“Conflict of interest.” He replied softly.

Leon fell quiet for a moment, and sighed. “_I’m sorry. That was a massive oversight on my part._”

“It’s alright.” Kabu chuckled. “It’s your first time coordinating a ranking tournament, isn’t it? It’s tough work, I’ve heard.”

“_Yeah._” Leon laughed tiredly. “_I’m sorry to ask you this, but do you know anyone else who might be a good candidate to judge for the tournament? I was thinking of Melony, but I don’t wanna disturb her just as she’s arriving at Galar._”

“Completely understandable.” Kabu replied. “I think Opal will be amenable, now that she has more time on her hands. Piers would also be good, if he’s at home for the time being.”

“_Thanks, I’ll contact them too._” Leon said. “_I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Kabu._”

“Again, it’s totally fine.” He replied, watching as Sena finally got the Pidove to faint, and soon, he and his team were back on their feet again, rushing towards the water this time with a whistle at a nearby Remoraid. “Sena and I haven’t been in the Wild Area for long.”

“_Oh, speaking of Sena…_” Leon’s voice softened up. “_How is he?_” 

“Coping.” Kabu replied, watching Sena make short work of the Remoraid with his Vikavolt. “Could be doing worse, but I have confidence he’ll make it to the ranking tournament with his head held high. The men of Hoenn don’t bend so easily.”

“_I… I’m glad to hear that._” Leon said. “_I’m sorry I can’t do anything for his Raichu…_” 

“He knows.” Kabu nodded, as Sena turned to harass a nearby Inkay. 

“_Will he be able to have a team of 6 in time?_” Leon asked. 

“We’re strategising how to go about that.” Kabu replied, and lit up when he saw a glowing den not too far away from them, a powerful beam of red light shooting out of it. “If you’ll excuse me, Chairman?” 

“_R-right. Of course._” Leon stammered. “_Take care. I’ll see you both on Saturday._”

“Thank you. We’ll see you then.” He replied, and hung up. He watched as Sena finished off the Inkay with his Rotom, and he clapped his hands loudly to get his nephew’s attention. Sena stopped in the middle of yanking his shoes off to wade into the lake they’d stopped at to look at him, and turned red when Kabu looked at him bemusedly. “Are you alright?” He asked in the dialect they grew up with in Lavaridge Town, and Sena laughed tiredly, shaking his head.

“N-never better.” He replied with a rather diluted accent, and Kabu tutted, pinching his nose lightly. He laughed sheepishly at that as his newly-caught Joltik scuttled up his arm to nest in his messy blond hair, where Kabu can see black roots barely beginning to emerge. His Rotom buzzed around beside him indignantly, and his Vikavolt also seemed to disagree. 

Kabu shook his head, and patted Sena’s shoulder heavily. 

“You’ll do just fine. You know your path, now simply walk down it.” He moved up to ruffle Sena’s hair—but not without gently brushing Petey the Joltik aside—and his nephew laughed softly, shaking his head after Kabu took his hand off his head. “You’ve trained with a Trial Captain back on Alola, and Tapu Koko found you a worthy battler. Have faith in your potential, but don’t push yourself too hard.” He gestured at Sena’s team. “They seem to agree.”

Sena looked at his Rotom and Vikavolt, who both looked up at him eagerly. He sighed, and sank down to the ground to sit at the bank of the lake, curling up to hug his knees close to himself. Petey scuttled out of his hair to play in the water with the Rotom and the Vikavolt.

“I dunno, Uncle… the tournament is two days away. I’ve only got three team members. The ranking tournament has 6v6 battles.” Kabu sat down next to him with a deep sigh, and nodded sagely. “I only have _ three _Pokémon.” 

“It would be nice to have four, wouldn’t it?” The older man chuckled. 

“Yeah, but… not a lot of variety out here.” Sena sighed. 

“Variety.” Kabu laughed softly. “You’ve turned down a lot of the electric types we’ve run into so far.” 

“They weren’t _ cute, _ Uncle!” Sena protested, and the older man burst out laughing. “I want a team that not only _ fights _ well but _ looks _good!” he huffed, burying his face into his knees, and Kabu calmed down, shaking his head fondly. “You’re lucky Fire-types are so cute!” 

“Can’t argue with that.” Kabu chuckled, and looked around for his Arcanine—ah, there it was. His Centiskorch on his back as he ran over the hills behind them. 

“And… I miss Lemons. And Snips.” Sena mumbled. “Emi can’t even call me a rat man when I don’t even _ have _my rats anymore.” He squeezed his knees closer to himself, and Kabu felt his chest ache at the sight of his sunny nephew like this. “I can’t… I’m not gonna make it into the Major League, am I?” He sniffled. “My time in Galar’s barely begun…”

“Sena.” Kabu said gently, squeezing his shoulder. “Don’t forget where you’re from.” 

“Huh?” Sena lifted his head, and rubbed at his eyes. “Uncle Kabu…”

“You’re from Hoenn, Sena. The men from Hoenn have a fighting, burning spirit.” He said, patting Sena’s back heavily, and the blond laughed weakly. “We never give up, the ember in our hearts will never go out.” He rested his hand on Sena’s head comfortingly. “Or, if you prefer, spark. You and your electric types…”

Sena finally burst out laughing at that, and Kabu smiled at him softly.

“Stay strong, Sena.” Kabu said. “We have to make do with what we have.” He patted Sena’s back, getting up. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”

“Huh?” Sena sat up, cocking his head at his uncle, who jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the den he spotted. The blond lit up at the sight of the massive beam of red light shooting out of the den, and he looked at Kabu as he shot to his feet. “Whoa, what’s _ that?_”

“It’s a Dynamax raid den.” Kabu explained, as he and Sena made their way over to it. Sena’s team followed after them, and with a whistle from Kabu, his Arcanine and Sizzlipede came rushing back to him obediently. 

“Oh!” Sena lit up. “Does that mean…?”

“Yeah, I figured it’s time.” Kabu nodded at his Pokémon. “Let’s get in, first.” 

He put his Arcanine and Sizzlipede back into their Pokéballs, and hopped right into the den. Sena jumped, and hurried to do the same, putting his team back into their Pokéballs before jumping right after his uncle, letting out a shout of alarm as he and Kabu slid down a surprisingly smooth tunnel of earth like a slide. Kabu jumped out of the tunnel, gracefully landing on his feet before straightening up and standing aside, just in time for Sena to come shooting out of the tunnel, landing on his ass with a loud _ thud. _

“Holy shit!” Sena swore, and Kabu laughed fondly as he helped his nephew onto his feet. “That was… _ something!_” 

“Definitely.” Kabu nodded. He looked around the dark, dimly-lit den as Sena brushed his clothes off, huffing. “Alright, settle down. Let’s listen out for what’s in here.”

Sena nodded, falling quiet as he and Kabu looked around. 

(They failed to notice a pair of eyes watching them from behind a rock.)

They heard the cry of a Pokémon in the distance, and Sena’s eyes widened at how _ loud _it was, slapping his hands over his ears with a wince as Kabu grinned witheringly. 

“What the _ hell _was that?” Sena asked, turning to his uncle in confusion, and Kabu jerked his head in the direction of the sound.

“Let’s go see, shall we?” He asked, and took Sena’s wrist, pulling him along with him deeper into the den they jumped into. They heard the cry again—louder, and higher up this time, and Sena jumped when he felt a droplet of water fall on his head. 

“U-Uncle Kabu?” He stammered. “It’s—it’s raining.”

“Well, well.” Kabu looked up, grinning wryly as the sky above them went dark. “I think we’ve found our Dynamax Pokémon.”

Sena looked up, and his eyes widened. 

“_Holy shit!_” He gasped, as wind surged past them, almost knocking him off his feet had Kabu not pulled him into his arms to hold him steady. “Wh-what the—_is that a Pelipper?_”

“A Dynamax Pelipper.” Kabu nodded, pulling away from Sena as the Pelipper flew back away from them, roaring powerfully as it let a gust of wind blow past them again. This time, Sena was ready for it, holding himself steady as Kabu did the same. “Alright, Sena. Heads up.”

“H-huh—whoa!” 

Sena scrambled to catch the wristband Kabu tossed at him, and he looked down at it in alarm. “Wh-what’s this?”

“A Dynamax Band.” Kabu said. “You use it to control Dynamax Pokémon. You’ve seen me Dynamax Centiskorch, right?”

“R-right.” Sena nodded, and pulled the band on.

“Good. We’ll do a raid battle together.” Kabu pulled his Rotom Phone out of his pocket, and had it scan the Pelipper in front of him. “Should be a decent level for you to take it on.”

Behind them, a little Pikachu jumped in alarm as she watched Sena pull his Dynamax band on. She bit her lip, and thought back to the first time she tried approaching him. 

_ She cocked her head, wondering where that strange, soft balloon of a friend he had had gone, and began to pad softly over to him. _

_ He smelled familiar—like her, if she thought about it. He smelled something like a Raichu, and electricity—the comforting, familiar scent of her element that she was born of in the wilds far, far away from where they were now. She wanted to know him—she wanted to meet him, meet his pancakey friend, come to know why he smelled of electricity and warmth, sparks of energy that could burst into flame, or flood a room with light. _

_ She was so ready to say hello to a new friend—a new trainer, perhaps?—when his phone suddenly rang. She jumped, and scurried away as he sat up straight, trying not to cry too much as he spoke to someone on the other side of the phone. _

_ Next time, she’ll say hello to him, Pikachu thought. Next time. _

Now, they were here. In her home. 

Like fate, Pikachu truly was meant to meet this boy.

“Now, Dynamax one of your team.” Kabu said. “I recommend Dynamaxing the Pokémon you intend to use last for the Electric-type Gym Challenge to get it used to Dynamax.” 

“Uncle, we’re not even sure I’ll make it in.” Sena laughed grimly, but Kabu shook his head.

“Look to the future, Sena.” He said, “Be confident—because _ I _believe in you.”

Sena gave him a little smile, and nodded. 

“Right. Thanks, Uncle Kabu.”

He pulled out his Rotom’s Pokéball from his pocket, and squeezed it determinedly. “I guess I’ll go with Busby.”

“Alright. Now, channel the Dynamax energy around you into the Pokéball.” Kabu said. “You do that by holding the ball up—right, that’s it—and then—”

Suddenly, a blur of yellow came darting out from the shadows, and Sena let out a shout of shock as a Pikachu landed on his outstretched palm, knocking Busby’s Pokéball out of his hand. 

“Wh—”

“What?” Kabu’s eyes widened. “Sena, watch out!”

Sena jerked in alarm as the Pikachu clung onto his hand, and he blinked at her in confusion as she looked back at him with burning determination in her eyes. 

“Don’t let her scratch you! _ Especially _not in a den like this!” Kabu called, but Sena couldn’t tear his gaze away from the Pikachu as she shakily got up onto her feet, standing on Sena’s palm. Her eyes met his and demanded his attention, and he gaped at her as realisation dawned on him in the way she was holding onto his Dynamax band. 

“You want me… to Dynamax you?” He asked, and Kabu blinked at him, stopping in the middle of picking up Busby’s angrily squirming Pokéball. The Pikachu nodded, and pawed at his Dynamax band. “How? You’re not mine. You don’t have a Pokéball.”

“Wait.” Kabu said, “She might be on to something.” 

Sena blinked at his uncle, who nodded at the Pikachu. “Go. Choose her.” 

Sena looked back at the Pikachu, and thought back to Lemons. His heart sank in his chest, and he shook his head, taking a deep breath. The Pikachu nodded, lowering herself to hold Sena’s Dynamax band, and patted the logo on it. A little spark of red escaped the band, and Sena steeled himself.

“Hope this works, buddy.” He said, and flung her into the field in front of the Pelipper. “Pikachu, I choose you!”

“_Pi!_” The Pikachu cried out as she leapt off Sena’s hand, and much to Sena’s surprise, a blast of red light burst from his Dynamax band. It flowed towards Pikachu as she landed on the ground, and enveloped her. A beam of red light shot up on top of her, and she began to grow in size. 

Sena’s eyes widened as Kabu hurried to his side, pulling his nephew back away from the Dynamaxing Pikachu, until she was roughly the same size as the Pelipper, with a swirl of red clouds over her head, and her tail lit up white with power and extending far into the roof of the den above their heads. 

“Oh, wow!” Sena cheered, jumping up and down in delight, “Look at this chunky girl! She’s so tubby!”

Kabu gaped up at the Pikachu. “Sena…” He said slowly. “Make sure you catch her after this.”

“Huh?” Sena blinked at him, and the man gave him a little grin, squeezing Sena’s shoulder. 

“Sena, this Pikachu has a Gigantamax form.” He said. “Every Gym Leader, Major _ or _Minor League, has one. Get her. She’ll help you a lot.”

“Right.” Sena nodded, and looked up at the Pikachu. “Pikachu?” he called, and she nodded, stancing up on all fours, ready to attack. “I haven’t got a _ fucking _clue what you can do.”

The Pelipper finally noticed them—well, noticed the _ Pikachu, _ really, and reared up, roaring into the ceiling of the den powerfully. It flapped its wings menacingly as it twirled in the air, and made a whole _ tornado _of wind blow towards them, powerful and almost throwing Sena and Kabu off their feet, had the Pikachu not stood in front of them, taking the brunt of the attack it threw at them. 

“Max Airstream!” Kabu barked at Sena. “That’s a Dynamax move!” 

“R-right. Do I j-just,” he made a vague gesture at the Pikachu, and Kabu shrugged. 

“I suppose anything you throw at her will work.” He said, shaking his head. “Start with the electric-type move.”

“Okay…” Sena looked up at the Pikachu. “Pikachu! Max—”

“_G-Max!_” Kabu tutted, pinching Sena’s ear, and the blond winced.

“R-right!” He stammered. “G-Max—G-Max—uh—_something electric!_”

Kabu couldn’t help but burst out laughing as the Pelipper’s Max Airstream died down, and uncle and nephew collapsed on each other, laughing helplessly as the Pikachu rolled her eyes, and faced off against the Pelipper with a steely expression on her face. She jumped onto all fours and roared into the sky, shooting down a bolt of lightning onto the Pelipper. 

It let out a cry as it crashed to the ground, and the Pikachu looked at Sena expectantly. 

“It’s paralysed,” Kabu told him. “Finish it off!”

“R-right.” He nodded, “This usually works for a Pikachu your age…” He grinned up at the Pikachu, and threw his hand out at the Pelipper. “Max Strike!”

The Pikachu nodded, and grabbed her tail, slamming it down onto the ground. A column of light shot up from underneath the paralysed Pelipper, throwing it back into the darkness of the den, and Kabu heaved a sigh of relief. 

“You got it.” He said, getting up onto his feet with a huff.

“Pika!” Pikachu cheered, and began to shrink, now that the battle was over. Sena laughed helplessly as Kabu pulled him up onto his feet, and the older man shook his head at him, lighting batting the top of Sena’s head. 

“And _ you, _young man, were very lucky that Pikachu understood that.” He tutted. Sena grinned up at him sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as the Pikachu came bounding over to them, now back to her regular size, and sniffing curiously at them. The two of them looked at the Pikachu as she approached, and when she came to a stop at Sena’s feet, Busby finally shot out of his Pokéball. He buzzed angrily as Pikachu huffed and turned her face away from him, and Sena shook his head fondly, gently resting his palm on the furious Rotom’s head to pull him down. 

“Chill out, Busby. I’ll still Dynamax you if you want, it’s fine.” He said, and the Rotom finally calmed down enough to huff petulantly, cuddling into the crook of Sena’s neck. The blond shook his head fondly, and looked back at the Pikachu, her sparkling eyes tugging at a string that felt like longing in his chest. “Hey, girl. You sure you wanna be with me?” He asked.

He held his hand out to her, and she sniffed at it. 

“I have a best friend who’s just like you… well, he’d been the same species as you, actually.” He explained, and the Pikachu blinked at him. “I’m not looking for him in you, and I’m not replacing him with you.” 

Kabu’s eyes softened at him. 

“I want you to understand that.”

Pikachu considered him for a moment, and nodded. She pressed her cheek into his palm, and Sena laughed softly.

“Thanks, Sunny.”

“Sunny!” Kabu hummed, as Sena pulled out a Pokéball from his jacket pocket. “Already with a name?”

“If it’s one thing I’m good at, Uncle Kabu, it’s naming things.” Sena grinned at him, and turned back to Sunny, who was staring at the Pokéball in his hand. “You ready?” He asked, and she nodded eagerly, charging towards him—

To boop her nose against the ball, putting herself inside it. Kabu, Busby and Sena watched as the Pokéball wiggled in the palm of his hand once, twice—and finally locked with a satisfying _ click. _

Sena heaved a sigh of relief, and he looked up at Kabu, who nodded proudly. 

“Well done.” He said, “I think, with a team of four, things will be a bit more manageable.”

“Right!” Sena nodded eagerly. “I’m already pumped up to keep moving!”

“As you should be.” Kabu nodded, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “We’ve got the whole Dusty Bowl to train with.”

“Right.” Sena beamed. “Let’s do this!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > thankfully, I have stopped caring about hits and kudos and stats like that. am I a “good” writer? who fucking knows. I just want to break personal records. That’s all I’m here for. I do not give a SHIT if people like my content or not I am here to game and I am WINNING.
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 2, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1245546291397976065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> unfortunately, that means you have to deal with sena, too. we're back to regular programming at the next update.
> 
> **Sena's team:**  
\- Busby (Rotom) - he found this Rotom in an old massage chair back in the ghost trial in Alola. Named after the famous Busby's Chair.  
\- Barry (Vikavolt) - Sena _likes_ to pretend he's named after the Flash, but he's actually named after the bee in the Bee Movie.  
\- Petey (Joltik) - like Peter Parker, Spider-Man!  
\- Sunny (Pikachu) - named after the youngest Baudelaire sibling from A Series of Unfortunate Events.  
\- Snips (Emolga) - named by his mom to match with Lemons. (Snips comes from Snicket.)  
\- Lemons (Alolan Raichu) - Sena's ace, named after [Lemony](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/902116450197921792?s=20) [Snicket](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1120706189921153024?s=20).


	16. Opening Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Today’s the day.”
> 
> “Congratulations, Chairman.” He said, nodding once. “So far, not a single hitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > no one is allowed to bookmark the sea between us anymore [pic.twitter.com/0lKfyTStrH](https://t.co/0lKfyTStrH)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1254041086407798784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> unfortunately this has already been changed but still it was nice while it lasted
> 
> anyway sorry i said "soon" but then posted late, i was (checks notes) depressed or something. fuck that noise

Leon was a bit ambivalent about being handed things. 

Sometimes, they were alright—it made him feel like he was actually in charge. In his days as Champion, he’d always seen Rose being handed things—usually by Oleana—and it was always important things. Business, pleasure—it all melded together with that man.

And always, _ always, _it began—with a neat, innocuous folder on his desk.

Leon looked down at the folder with the seal of the Galarian Metropolitan Police on his desk, and turned to look at Ricki as the both of them strode into the room. 

“It arrived for you yesterday after you left.” She said. “Warwick Yard seemed insistent about it, said it was for your eyes only. I promise I left the seal untouched, sir.” 

Leon rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head as he strode around his desk to sit down. He picked up the folder with nothing short of trepidation, and shot his assistant a worried look. 

“The Ranking Tournament is _ tonight, _ Ricki. This doesn’t look good at all.” He sighed, turning it over to see ‘_FOR CHAIRMAN LEON’S EYES ONLY_’ written in a neat script on the back. “Who brought it over?” He asked, and began picking the black and white police tape—_ha, _ he actually used _ police tape, _Leon thought—open from the side. He already knew who sent the folder was, but he felt the need to ask. 

After all, he could never be too sure, these days. 

“Detective Robin.” She said, and Leon hummed, nodding as he pulled the tape off, opening the folder to look inside. “Well, he didn’t leave his name, but he’s my best friend’s dad, and he didn’t realise I was working here, so…” Ricki shook her head. “You didn’t need to hear that. What’s in it?”

Leon looked up at her, and grinned. “I thought it was for my eyes only?” He lifted an eyebrow at her as he pulled out a few papers stapled together, and Ricki crossed her arms.

“Wasn’t for your ears only, is it?” Ricki pouted. “And _ both _ of us are taking care of security detail, remember? Wyndon Stadium is _ massive, _sir.”

“Fair enough.” Leon chuckled, shaking his head as he looked back down at the papers. Ricki patiently waited for him to read it, but when his good nature dissipated and his smile dropped into a look of alarm, her smile slid off her face. 

“Sir?”

Leon fished out something else from the folder—a little device in a resealable evidence bag. He opened the bag hurriedly and dropped it onto his desk, and Ricki approached him nervously, biting her lip as she and her employer looked at the device. 

“Wh-what’s that?” She asked faintly. 

“A…” Leon took a moment to look at the letter, and back to the device. “A Rocket… Controller. Whatever the hell _ that _is.” 

“A what now?” Ricki blinked, and Leon shook his head. 

“It’s about the Team Rocket battle I had when Raihan left.” Leon said, scanning the letter again. “This was taken off the Bronzong’s underbelly dome.” 

Ricki blinked at it. “But what does it _ do?_” 

Leon frowned. “Control Pokémon and force them to obey the holder of this device.” Gingerly he picked up the device on the table, and jumped when it fell apart into two separate pieces, a large hexagonal ring, and a smaller hexagonal shape. Ricki leaned closer to look at the controller, too, and blinked at it. “The outer ring is attached to the Pokémon, the smaller device goes to the so-called _ trainer…_” Leon scoffed, as Ricki picked up the ring. Her eyes widened when she saw sharp claws on it, and she pointed them out to her boss. 

“Check it out.” She said quietly. “This… looks _ painful._” 

Leon winced, gently taking it from her. “I would never want any Pokémon to have this… _ torture device _on them.”

He thumbed at the point of one of the teeth, and winced slightly when it made a razor-thin line across his thumb. A bead of blood oozed out of it, and he shook his head, sucking the blood off his thumb. 

Ricki looked crestfallen. “I don’t want Charkie to have to go through this.” 

Leon looked up at her comfortingly, and patted her hand. “And she won’t have to. Detective Robin is requesting a heightened presence of Warwick Yard officers. I’m going to grant it.”

“R-right.” The young woman sniffled, wiping at her eyes with her free hand. “I’ll let the ground staff know to let them in.” 

“Thanks.” Leon said gently, and Ricki excused herself from his room. He sighed fondly when he heard the tell-tale sound of her releasing Charkie from her Pokeball, and when he heard the Growlithe whimper, he knew she must have hugged her partner Pokémon.

Leon leaned back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought back to the letter on his desk.

_ Chairman Leon— _

_ I am Detective Robin of the Galarian Metropolitan Police assigned to your case the other week at Thornton Airport, case identification number TRA092833. _

_ As you requested during our conversation last week, I’m updating you on the investigation. The three Team Rocket members have been interrogated, but as we feared, they’re not giving anything up. I’ve already contacted Looker about this, but he insists on keeping information off the grid. I’ve arranged for him to fly to Galar in the coming week for us to meet. I could provide you the meeting details, if you like, and if he’s amenable to it, you can come along. _

_ Dr. Sophie has managed to reverse-engineer the device I’ve included in this folder for you to look at. Don’t worry, it’s already deactivated. It’s a device found on the underbelly dome of the Bronzong, and the same devices were dug into the abdomen of the Skorupi, and the Machoke’s thigh, each. We found that it’s apparently used to control the Pokémon it’s attached to, forcing even tamed Pokémon to obey the Team Rocket trainers that stole them. The outer rim is a signal receiver, and the smaller plate is the source of the signal. _

_ Your intuition was right—the Pokémon seem to have a reduced lifespan when attached with this controller, which one of the grunts slipped up and called a Team Rocket Controller. Like you said, they looked unwell, and the prognosis on the Bronzong, Skorupi and Machoke ranges from bleak to unclear. Hopefully Nurse Joy will find a way to save them. _

_ We’re still trying to figure out what they were meaning to do with the Pokémon they were trying to steal. According to a few industry sources, Team Rocket works with wildlife exploitation and trade. It’s likely that they were trying to smuggle contraband Pokémon into Galar, or steal Pokémon from quarantine to smuggle and sell abroad. Anything’s on the table at this point, and I’m afraid things will only get worse. _

_ In the meantime, I’d like to formally request a heightened police presence at the Ranking Tournament. I’m sorry this came so suddenly, but I only received approval from my commanding officer the moment Dr. Sophie announced her findings. We’ll take care of the rest, like positioning and such. Hopefully our presence is mere superfluity and nothing more. _

_ Respectfully, _

_ Detective Robin. _

Leon buried his face in his hands. 

Pokémon were being stolen, and smuggled and sold for money. Pokémon were _ dying, _ and only Arceus knew what could’ve happened to Sena’s _ team _if they’d gotten away with that. 

Hell, how many more of those quarantined Pokémon did people never get back? How many more quarantined Pokémon were already shipped halfway across the globe, only to die years before their prime? 

“_Fuck,_” Leon hissed, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes, _ hard, _ as he felt tears prickling the corners of them. He dropped himself onto his desk, sniffling softly, and he jumped when he heard the sound of two Pokeballs deploying—the tell-tale of a Charizard _ thump _ on the floor of his office telling him Red had let himself out of his ball. The other Pokémon was a mystery, until he felt a cold hand at his wrist, and he looked up to see Danny looking down at him, eyes just as watery as his own. “H-hey, Danny.” He looked over at Red, who was looking at him worriedly. “Red.”

The Inteleon made a soft sound of sympathy, and, as was his wont since he was a Sobble, climbed into Leon’s lap, hugging him close and _ also _beginning to cry. 

Leon managed to laugh at that, wiping at his eyes as Red growled in exasperation, reaching forward to try and pry Danny off Leon’s lap, but to no avail. The Inteleon clung onto his trainer pitifully as Red threw his claws up into the air in exasperation, and Leon could only laugh, hugging Danny back one-armed as he reached up to scratch under Red’s chin.

“Thanks, guys.” He said softly. “I… I’m okay.” 

Red cocked his head at him, as if to ask if he was sure, and Leon nodded. 

“Y-yeah, I’m sure.” He replied. “I… I’m sure… everything’s gonna be… alright.”

He looked out of his office window, eyes tearing up again as he looked at the blooming rose that was Wyndon Stadium, and thought of Sena. 

“Do your best, Sena.” He murmured. “And I’ll do my best, too.”

Red nudged his snout against Leon’s cheek, and the man laughed, petting him gently. “You’re right. I should stop getting distracted.” Leon huffed. “Better get this paperwork done. Detective Robin can’t gather _ all _of Warwick Yard in a single afternoon, after all!”

* * *

“There’s so many people!” Sena’s eyes were wide as he and Kabu walked across the bridge heading towards Wyndon Stadium. He almost tripped over his feet with how distracted he was by the sheer size of Wyndon Stadium, but Kabu was quick to catch him before he fell over. “_Oof! _Thanks, Uncle Kabu!”

“Be careful.” The man said placidly. “I know you’re excited, but you have to steel yourself. Now more than ever, you need to focus. Be precise and sure in all your actions.” 

Sena nodded, straightening up his gait, but unable to keep himself from beaming widely as the rose petals of Wyndon Stadium towered far overhead. He didn’t even feel as self-conscious as he had been when they first started their short journey from Kabu’s house in Motostoke to Wyndon—he’d thrown on a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt, and stuffed in an extra change of the _ fancy _ stuff and the Electric-type Gym Uniform into a duffel bag he currently carried on his shoulder. Kabu, on the other hand, was already ready for the evening’s inevitable League afterparty—he was dressed in a Hoenn-style kimono the colour of blood, with a deeper red haori on top. Dancing golden fire-embers decorated the hem of his kimono and his sleeves, reflected in tumultuous lightning of shocking gold on top of the black silk of his obi. Commuting to Wyndon with it on—Kabu wasn’t fond of Flying Taxis, apparently—was a trial, but Sena didn’t fault him. Bringing _ that _to change into Wyndon Stadium would be inconvenient, and he would be in the VIP box anyway. 

Kabu attracted stares wherever they went, and when they’d stepped out into the streets of Motostoke, Sena could feel their eyes on him—the underdressed, scraggly-looking young man that looked like the irresponsible bastard child of the regal, impeccably-dressed Leader Kabu.

It wasn’t until they made it to the train to Wyndon when Kabu’s stiff expression softened into a familiar wince, and the man made a show of complaining about his aching feet. Sena’s laughter rang in their shared little booth, and Kabu was alright again.

The nerves, the embarrassment all faded away as uncle and nephew laughed together, and Sena could feel Kabu’s affection for him calming him down. 

“Ah, these wooden slippers pinch.” Kabu grumbled for the third time since they stepped foot in Wyndon, and Sena snickered.

“Well, going hard apparently runs in the family.” He said, and Kabu snorted. “Dresses troublesome, but the trouble was well worth it.”

“Watch where you’re going.” Kabu said, neither confirming nor denying his statement.

Sena grinned, but as they climbed up the stairs to Wyndon Stadium—with Sena making a show of helping his _ old man _ up the stairs, earning him another pinch to the ear from his uncle—he couldn’t help but stare up at the _ massive _stadium in front of them.

“Oh, wow.” Sena breathed, and Kabu couldn’t help but smile to himself. The older man took his nephew by his elbow, and pulled him into the building, earning them stares from the other competitors that were already there. Fans were lining up at the other side of the reception area, and Kabu nodded to himself when he saw Leon himself talking to a uniformed police officer with hushed tones, his brow creased in concentration as he talked. 

Sena stopped beside him, and Kabu looked at his nephew. “Sena?” He asked. 

“It’s Chairman Leon…” Sena breathed, and Kabu shook his head fondly. Ah, a fan, was he? 

“Well, if you work hard and enter the Major League, you can get to know him better.” Kabu said. “I would normally discourage people from meeting their idols, but Leon’s—”

“He’s as pretty as ever…” Sena sighed dreamily, and Kabu pursed his lips. 

“Ah.” He said flatly. “You’re just like your father, honestly.” He shook his head, and Sena laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, as long as it doesn’t distract you too much. If anything, it seems to motivate you.”

“It sure does!” Sena huffed. “I can’t go looking like a fool now, not when Chairman Leon’s watching!” 

Kabu chuckled at that, and ushered for him to head to the registration counter. “Well, I suggest you better get yourself sorted out. I’ll just go talk to him for a moment, and if you feel up to it, you can come up to us and join in.”

“No thanks,” Sena shook his head, squeezing the handle of the duffel bag he was carrying. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” He beamed at his uncle, and thumped his chest. “After all, I don’t wanna put your efforts to waste. Thank you for getting me into shape, Uncle Kabu.”

Kabu’s expression softened at that, and he gently waved for Sena to go.

“Oh, you cheeky child.” He said with a fond huff. “Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t!” Sena grinned. “The whole team and I will do our very best. I won’t waste my Pokémon’s efforts, too!”

He gave Kabu a wave, and hurried away. The older man shook his head fondly and strode over to Leon, who finished up his conversation with the police officer as he approached. Leon gave him a strained little smile of sorts, and Kabu decided not to mention it as he gave the younger man a wave. 

“Leon.”

“Kabu. Hey.” Leon smiled tiredly, and the other man offered him a supportive smile. “Today’s the day.”

“Congratulations, Chairman.” He said, nodding once. “So far, not a single hitch.”

“Hasn’t started yet.” Leon tutted, shaking his head as he reached up to reach for his hair, which was currently in a ponytail. He rolled up the rest of the tail into a bun, and fanned himself with the clipboard he was carrying. “And I’m already sweaty. Geez.”

“The chairman’s chair softened you up, Leon?” Kabu chuckled, and Leon snickered, shaking his head. 

“Oh, I wish.” Leon huffed. “I’m starting to see how hard Oleana works. I didn’t want to put the entire pressure on my own assistant’s shoulders, so we’ve split the efforts between us.” 

“You’re already doing more than the old Chairman did.” Kabu said quietly, and Leon gave him a tired little grin as he lowered his arms, letting his ponytail fall. 

“Thanks, Kabu.” Leon sighed, and the older man gave him a little smile. “It’s tiring work, but when you’re there alongside the League staff sorting things out, you really come to appreciate it.” 

“Certainly.” Kabu nodded, and jerked his head at the police officer that Leon was talking to, now standing off to the side, speaking with hushed tones into a walkie-talkie. “Is there a reason why the police are here?”

“Well, it’s just…” Leon hesitated, and he took a shaky breath. “You’ve heard about what happened when Raihan left for Sinnoh, right?” He asked, and Kabu nodded. “There’s been some… concerns that Team Rocket will try something tonight, at the Gym Ranking Tournament.” 

Kabu frowned. “That won’t do.”

“Yeah.” Leon sighed, shaking his head. “That’s why I’m working with Warwick Yard to secure the area.” He looked over at Sena, who was still at the counter, registering himself. “I wouldn’t want the tournament to be ruined by some petty crooks who can’t respect people _ and _Pokémon.” 

“Neither would I.” Kabu nodded. “My nephew is my pride and joy. I don’t want his moment taken away from him by the ones who took Lemons and Snips away.” 

Leon deflated at that, and gingerly held his clipboard close to his chest. 

“How is he, by the way?” He asked. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch his matches with how busy I am…”

“Oh, Mr. Chairman, you heartbreaker!” Kabu chuckled, and Leon spluttered, his cheeks flushing. Kabu waved him off with a huff, and Leon deflated, pouting at him sheepishly. “He’s fine. He’s managed to replenish his team to make the challenge manageable.”

“Manageable.” Leon echoed. “Oh, he hasn’t got six…”

Kabu shook his head. “No, but I’m confident in him, and so is he in his team.” He squeezed Leon’s shoulder. “Again, it’s not your fault. We made do with what we have been given.”

“But Kabu, his opponents have Gigantamax Pokémon.” Leon said, but Kabu gave him a knowing grin.

“So do we.” He said, and thumped his chest lightly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Chairman.”

“Wait,” Leon began, “I… Kabu, can I ask for your help?” 

Kabu looked at him intently, and Leon swallowed nervously. “Please… just keep an eye out.”

“For Sena, I will.” Kabu said, and gave Leon a little wave. “Good luck with the rest of the evening’s preparations.” 

“Th-thanks.” Leon mumbled faintly, and watched as Kabu walked away. He sighed to himself, shaking his head as he turned back to the clipboard in his arms. “Right… which way was the staff room again…?”

* * *

“Niles! Is the router up and running?”

“I’m not sure, Master Raihan! Could you try running the livestream?”

“Hold on, I’m—_fuck, ugh_—it’s not starting?”

“The livestream? Why, certainly! It’s only 5 o’clock, but I’m certain they would be running advertisements in the meantime!”

“No, I mean, the TV won’t turn on?” 

Raihan straightened up, frowning to himself as he stared at the TV. He put his arms akimbo as he cocked his head, following wires with his eyes.

“Maybe the UPS got discharged?” He mumbled, looking around the side of the TV stand, only to see Cynthia’s reflection in the dead TV. Raihan lit up, turning around to see the blonde slowly walking down the stairs, her long hair in disarray. One of the spaghetti straps of her silk nightgown slid down her shoulder as she yawned, dumping herself down on the couch next to the egg Raihan was taking care of. “Good morning.”

“Can’t a woman get some sleep?” She grumbled, sinking down to lie down on the couch, hugging the egg like a beloved pillow. “I can’t get a wink of it with you and Niles screaming across the house.”

“You have me waking up at 5:30 every day to start training, Cynthia. I don’t know how you’re not fine with waking up a little earlier than that.” Raihan chuckled, shaking his head as he went back to the UPS, frowning to see the indicator needles still at zero, even if it was plugged in. “Huh.” 

“It’s the _ weekend._” Cynthia snarled. “And a _ Sunday. _ I wake up at noon on Sundays.”

“It’s true.” Niles said, striding in from the other room. “I’ve fixed the router, Master Raihan. Your Rotom Phone confirmed it.”

“Thanks.” Raihan sighed, looking down at the UPS. “I think the UPS’s discharged. TV won’t turn on.”

Cynthia snorted into the side of the egg. “Maybe I left it unplugged after game night on Friday.”

“Oh, you would have.” Raihan huffed, shaking his head fondly as he turned to look at Niles. “I don’t suppose you have anything that could help?”

“Oh, Miss Cynthia leaves the UPS to discharge sometimes.” Niles tutted fondly, and he whistled. Raihan blinked at him, but then lit up when Niles’s Rotom—now just a regular Rotom, this time—drifted into the room, a happy little grin on its face. “Cece, if you could?”

The Rotom—Cece, apparently—flew over to the UPS and stuck her wing into it. Raihan blinked at her as Niles cleared his throat. 

“Use Thunder Shock.” He said, and the Rotom let out a small charge into the UPS. Immediately, the UPS came to life, and Raihan lit up as the TV went on, showing two commentators chatting together, with a Drone Rotom shot of Wyndon Stadium at night time behind them. 

“It worked!” Raihan cheered, as Niles nodded. “Thanks so much, Niles! Cece!” 

Cece snickered, and fluttered away. Niles gave him a bow, and straightened up.

“I’ll go prepare breakfast.” He said, “It will be ready by the time the tournament begins.”

“Thanks.” Raihan nodded, and the butler strode away. Raihan looked at Cynthia, who was already back to dozing on the couch, still hugging the egg she gave Raihan. He shook his head fondly, walking over to her to drape a blanket he’d brought with him over her. After making sure the egg in her arms was safe, he made his way to the coffee table, where his team were, still in their Pokéballs. One by one, he let them out—making sure Gooms was in a wet-Pokéchair—before sitting down on the space left on the couch next to Cynthia’s head. He leaned back, resting his feet on the coffee table as he tuned out the idle chatter of the commentators as he scrolled through his PokéGram timeline. Gladiolus settled down to sit next to him, and Raihan absently reached out to rest his hand on Gladiolus’s head. Darude cuddled underneath Raihan’s legs, and Gooms whined pitifully from where she sat.

Raihan laughed softly, and patted Gladiolus’s side. “Could you pull her seat closer, buddy?”

Gladiolus nodded, and got up, ambling over to Gooms to pull her closer. Raihan turned back to his phone as Gladiolus and Gooms settled down together—the two of them got along the best of all his team. 

“Oh, Gloria made a post.” Raihan mumbled, smiling at the sight of the teen in their Champion uniform, taking a selfie from behind Leon’s back, letting the Internet see the absolute _ mane _Leon’s hair could turn into when it frizzed out. 

_ @enbynumber1 Gym Ranking tonight!!! mr. chairman sure is fluffy!! _

“He sure is.” Raihan chuckled softly, and scrolled further down. Posts from Nessa, Sonia, and Gordie told him they were all at the ranking tournament as well, and Raihan smiled to himself when he saw that Leon hadn’t touched his official account at all. “Guess he’s busy.”

“_And the new Chairman! Oh, he’s working so hard, isn’t he, Jessannie?_” 

Raihan looked up from his phone to look at the TV, finally paying attention to the two commentators chatting together. One was a man with blue hair and sharp sunglasses, while the other one was a gaudily-dressed redhead. They had a Meowth in a suit between them, and Raihan couldn’t help but grin at the sight of the three of them.

“_He sure is, Jamily!_” The woman cooed, “_So dreamy and blooming as always, and a hard worker! It looks like things will turn out fantastic tonight!_”

“_Indeed!_” The blue-haired commentator nodded eagerly. “_Stay tuned! We’ll have the lovely Chairman Leon himself right here for an in-depth chat!_”

Raihan’s eyes widened. “Leon.” He breathed, sitting up.

“Wow, you really _ are _smitten.” Cynthia huffed softly, and Raihan jumped, turning to see she had sat up, yawning softly as she hugged the egg. She tucked her legs under her as she arranged herself to sit cross-legged on the couch to rest the Pokémon egg on her lap. “Your eyes just light up even at the mention of his name. You must really love him.”

“I do.” Raihan smiled softly, and she smiled warmly at that. He laughed sheepishly, shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m getting used to being apart from him, but it’s really something else when he’s just… not _ right there, _ y’know?”

“I suppose.” Cynthia shrugged, and yawned again. “_Ah. _Anyway, I’m awake now, promise.” She rubbed at her eyes, and petted the egg on her lap. “So, tell me about this ranking tournament, how it works, all that. While we wait.” She looked at the grandfather clock along the wall next to the TV, and hummed. “We’ve got 20 minutes.”

“Okay, okay.” Raihan chuckled. “So, the Galarian Pokémon League, see…”

* * *

“... And that’s that.” Leon sighed, as in front of him, the blond police officer laughed kindly, patting his shoulder. “Oh, I feel like shit.” He gingerly rubbed his hair between his fingers. “And I’ve frizzed up something fierce. My stylist’s gonna kill me.” Leon gave the other man a tired smile. “Thank you so much for being so accommodating, Detective Robin.”

“It’s nothing at all.” Robin replied. “You’re opening the tournament, right? You’d better get going.”

“Yeah.” Leon sighed, stretching out with a wince, feeling his lower back protest. “I’ll give you a call if anything comes up. I’ll be in the VIP box.” 

“Alright.” Robin nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want security detail?” He asked, frowning, and Leon gave him a grin.

“Detective Robin, I don’t mean to brag, but I _ was _Champion of Galar for 10 years.” Leon said. “And I’ll be in a room full of Gym Leaders. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright.” The detective shrugged. “Again, I’m just a call away.”

“Thank you.” Leon smiled, and the blond gave him a wave, before striding away. Leon sighed to himself, turning to see Ricki standing at the door, smiling at him kindly. “Hey.”

“Congrats, Chairman.” She said, “Just a little longer.”

“I know.” Leon looked at his palm, where he and Ricki had written his speech, and huffed a little laugh. “Oh, _ Arceus. _ I _ cannot _ fucking _ wait _until this is over.”

“Chairman?” 

Leon and Ricki jumped when they saw Robin peer into the room again. 

“Detective Robin?”

“I just recieved a very important call. There’s something else I have to tell you.” Robin said. “And I’d appreciate it if your assistant wasn’t around to hear it.”

Ricki and Leon shared worried looks. 

“It’s a matter of security.” Robin said, and Ricki nodded. 

“I’ll be outside if you need me, sir.” She said, and stepped out past Robin at the door. The detective shut the door behind him, locking it soundly, and turned to look at Leon. 

“What is this about, Detective Robin?” Leon asked worriedly. 

“It’s about Team Rocket.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > i put uncle kabu in a kimono. normally me putting characters into fancy outfits is a horny thing but this time around he wears it for a wholesome reason and im big emo 😭😭😭
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 20, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1252259367992213504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> kabu wore a kimono to support sena and their hoenn roots. time to cry 


	17. Backstage Pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Rocket has infiltrated the Ranking Tournament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I WAS POSSESSED  
  
(i just shopped a ring on raihan's finger!) [pic.twitter.com/wEnQYa9Cyp](https://t.co/wEnQYa9Cyp)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 1, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1256166296464416769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> animedia magazine and the anipoke said [raileon rights](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1256164094106677248?s=20) and by god the fandom ate well tonight. here's an update
> 
> disclaimer: i promoted avery and klara to gym leaders because i wanted to. that's literally it.

“_Chairman Leon, we’re too late. Team Rocket has infiltrated the Ranking Tournament._”

Leon stood in front of the door leading to the pitch, staring down at the Dynamax band around his wrist. Detective Robin’s words echoed in his head ominously as he balled his hand into a shaking fist, nerves jumbling into a tangle of viscera in his gut.

_ Team Rocket has infiltrated the Ranking Tournament. _

“_Why? How?_” Leon had asked, his heart lodging in his throat, and Robin shook his head. 

“_We don’t know yet. I just wanted you to know what we know, so you don’t get caught off guard. I don’t know what kind of stunt they’re gonna pull, when there’s nothing that indicates that they’ll try anything._” Robin frowned. “_But our sources are reliable, and I have complete confidence that _ ** _something _ ** _ will happen tonight. Be very, very careful._”

Oh, Arceus. Leon had hoped they could still stop something. 

“Chairman Leon?” 

Leon almost jumped out of his skin, but he forced himself to calm down when he saw a League staff member peeking into the room from the door he was staring at. He wore an awkward smile for her, and nodded. 

“Wh-what’s up?” He asked.

“The opening ceremony’s about to start.” She said. “Are you okay?”

“I—I’m fine.” Leon nodded jerkily. “Let’s get going.”

_ Team Rocket has infiltrated the Ranking Tournament. _

“Alright.” She nodded once, and held the door open for him. “Let’s go.”

_ Something will happen tonight. _

Leon bit his lip, and followed after her.

_ Be very, very careful._

* * *

“Oh, shit! It’s starting!” 

Cynthia’s outburst made Raihan almost drop his mug of coffee as he made his way back to the couch next to her. He grumbled angrily as she burst out laughing, but the both of them calmed down quickly enough when the stadium came to life, Jessanie and Jamily’s commentary coming to a stop as the opening ceremony began. Raihan’s eyes widened as he settled down next to Cynthia, absentmindedly sipping his coffee. 

The Galarian League logo flashed on the screen, and Raihan’s lips widened into a smile as he saw Leon stride out onto the pitch, waving grandly up at the crowd as it went wild for him.

He was in a different suit than the one he wore to the Battle Tower—and Raihan couldn’t help his wide, goofy grin at the sight of Leon on the pitch. The man had his hair braided and twisted up in an elegant bun, and he was in a _ very _familiar suit. The black slacks, the wine-red polo, the vest and the jacket, hell, even the golden chain hanging from Leon’s cravat pin was familiar. The only thing different was that Leon was wearing high heeled-boots, something he grew fond of doing after his wardrobe change as MC Chairman. 

“He’s wearing one of my suits.” Raihan breathed, looking at Cynthia, who was nodding in approval.

“Looks good on him.” She replied. “No wonder he’s looking a little more fashionable than before.”

“Yikes, that’s cruel.” Raihan laughed, and Cynthia huffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Says the man who’s madly in love with him.” She said, and they settled down as the Drone Rotom shot settled down to focus on Leon. Red stood behind him, wings outstretched and roaring triumphantly into the sky, as he took a steadying breath.

“_Welcome, Galar!_” he greeted, “_I am your League Chairman, Leon!_”

“League Chairman.” Cynthia hummed. “Has a nice ring to it.”

Raihan grinned. “I know.”

“_Tonight, it is my great honour to welcome you all to the Minor League Gym Ranking Tournament!_” He swept his hand into the air, and high above his head, fireworks set off in the sky. The crowd cheered delightedly for him. “_This Gym Ranking Tournament aims to reshuffle the ranks of the Minor League Gym Leaders in a single-elimination tournament that will determine the Minor League Champion._” 

“Oh, okay, okay, I get it.” Cynthia hummed. “So the Minor League is like… a preliminary League tourney?” 

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Most trainers go through the Minor League before entering the Major League tournament, but the tournament takes place every two years, while the Major League is an annual event.” 

“I see.” Cynthia nodded. “That really ensures that all the trainers entering the Galarian League have already been seeded.” 

“Yep.” Raihan replied. “Of course, there have been exceptions.” He looked at his fiancé pointedly, and Cynthia shook her head. 

“And you.” She poked his arm, and he laughed, nodding as they turned back to Leon’s speech.

“_...And the winner of the event shall be given the first spot in the Major League championship in the coming season!_” He declared, his eyes bright and beautiful, and Raihan sighed happily, leaning against the back of the couch as he watched Leon captivate the world—wearing _ Raihan’s _ clothes, and the symbol of Hammerlocke on his body. “_I’m looking forward to watching everyone battle tonight, everyone! Do your best!_”

Red roared again, letting out a burst of flame into the sky, and the crowd went wild again. The feed went back to Jessanie and Jamily, who both burst into excited chatter. Raihan cuddled into the couch cushions, giggling softly, and Cynthia snorted, snickering into her mug. 

“Holy shit.” She said, and Raihan sighed dreamily, “_Holy shit_.” 

Cynthia giggled as she picked up a croissant off the plate they shared on the coffee table, shaking her head. “I think your ‘holy shit’ is different from _ my _‘holy shit’.” She said, and bit into her croissant as Raihan laughed sheepishly. 

“I suppose.” He nodded, and he and Cynthia fell quiet when they saw the bracket for the tournament appear on the board. “Oh, hey. Only 6 of them this year, huh.” 

“Can the Minor League tourney change?” Cynthia asked, peering at the Gym Leaders, and the Pokémon types they were using. “In total, there’s 18 Galarian Gyms, right?” 

“Yeah, the Minor League tourney only does five gyms in the medallion. They do a rotation of who’s available.” Raihan said. “Minor League Gyms aren’t as sponsored as Major League Gyms, so some go on hiatus until the Gym Leader changes, like, say, the Electric-type Gym in Derbyton. First time in the Minor League tourney leg in years.”

“Oh, I see…” Cynthia nodded. “I’m sure it’s expensive, running Gyms without sponsorships.”

“What about in Sinnoh?” Raihan asked. 

“We’re government-subsidised.” Cynthia said. “As Chairman of the Sinnohan League, I make sure that relations between the Pokémon League and the government of Sinnoh are good.” 

“Sounds like something that ought to keep you busy.” Raihan huffed, grinning slightly, and Cynthia shrugged. 

“Frankly, I’m only ever needed during the League Tournament. Most of the time, the Gyms pull their own weight. After all, they bring with them good business, and I haven’t seen a town with a Gym in it that’s had trouble with tourism.” She sipped her coffee, and sighed. “All the mayors of each town help Gyms maintain their upkeep, but I imagine it’s not quite the same in Galar, isn’t it?” 

“Nah.” Raihan shook his head, as he and Cynthia turned their attentions back to the TV, where Jessanie and Jamily were talking about each Gym Leader on the roster. “Each gym has to maintain a stadium, and Dynamaxing eats up a lot of power. Lots of power, lots of bills, the list goes on…” Raihan huffed. “Boy, I got in way over my head when I took up the Gym Leader mantle at 18.”

“How young.” Cynthia hummed, and Raihan shrugged.

“It was either that or the duchy.” He said. “Well… back then, I had the choice, at least.”

Cynthia hummed sympathetically, and said nothing else.

“_So, Jessanie, that’s all our competitors from Brackets A and B! What does our survey say as favourite?_” 

“_Well,_” the redhead leered at a tablet she had in her hands. “_The Flying-type Gym Leader Rhodora is the current favourite! She’s a new addition to the Minor League, and recently replaced the old Flying-type Gym Leader!_”

“Flying-type, huh.” Cynthia hummed. “Interesting. The newcomer is a crowd favourite.”

She peered at the lineup, and whistled. “Bracket A. If that Electric-type guy in Bracket B makes it to the finals, he could _ really _mess her up.”

“Yeah.” Raihan hummed, “But I wonder if he’ll do well.” 

“Hm?” Cynthia hummed, cocking her head at him. 

“The Electric-type guy.” Raihan said, “I know him.” 

“Oh?” 

“He recently lost a majority of his team, so Leon and I were worried about him.” Raihan said. “As much as I’d like to believe he’ll make it, he only had about a week or so to recover, losing half his team to border quarantine.”

“Oh, border quarantine.” Cynthia scowled. “I got hit by that, too.” She took a swig of her coffee, and Raihan laughed into the rim of his mug. “Jeez. I fly into Galar with my Garchomp for Worlds finals, only for her to get quarantined at the _ airport! _ I was so _ lucky _that Lance—you know him, don’t you?”

“I was told he babysitted me when I was a little kid. I fell in love with him when I was 10.” Raihan snickered, “Sometimes Leon argues that Lance was my first love, not him.”

“Lance isn’t the man you’re going to marry.” She said, and Raihan blinked at her. She shrugged, and hid her smile behind her mug. “I mean, I’d _ assume _you were going to.” Cynthia explained. “I watched your presscon before you left Galar, and I’ve heard from our champion Dawn that the hashtag Galarian Royal Wedding trended after that.”

Raihan burst out laughing. “Oh, I remember that.” _ And they weren’t that far off the mark, either. _

“Anyway,” Cynthia waved him off. “Lance, right? He was here doing his G-Men business in Sinnoh, so he managed to pick up my Lucario for me before flying to Worlds himself. Could you _ imagine _ if I had to go back and pick him up myself? I went to Galar _ early _ so I didn’t have problems with Worlds _ and _ so I could take a Rapidash Tour, since Leon promised to show me around, but!” She threw her hands up into the air. “I didn’t take a damn _ step _ out of Wyndon. I wanted to see Stow-on-Side. Circhester. Hell, _ Hammerlocke._” 

“Whoa, really?” Raihan asked. “What for?”

“I’ve heard about your castle’s vaults.” She said, “I _ love _history and archaeology, and I heard that Galar had a robustly-recorded history since its medieval period.”

“It’s all bull, Cynthia!” Raihan exclaimed, and she blinked at him. “Well, _ most _ of it. The royal family didn’t do recorded history _ any _favours, especially the noble house of Dimmsmont…”

“Uh.” The blonde blinked at him. “Really?”

“Really.” Raihan grumbled. “Hammerlocke’s vault has the best-preserved, semi-accurate accounts of how Galar was really like back during the medieval period, but my cousins’ family sorta… mucked it up. We only learned about the truth of Galar’s first kings about a year ago, when our Champion discovered the Legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta.” He sighed. “Seriously, even Hammerlocke’s oldest records corroborate the existence of the dogs.” 

“Oh.” Cynthia breathed. “You’re a historian, Raihan?”

“Oh, right!” Raihan laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I, uh. I have a graduate degree in Galarian History. I know I don’t look like it, but I took it up so I could take care of the Hammerlocke Vault, too.” 

“Wow!” Cynthia lit up. “You’ve _ got _to tour me around Galar next year when you go home!” 

“Absolutely!” Raihan huffed. “It’s nice to meet a fellow history nerd.”

Cynthia beamed at him, but when Jessanie and Jamily burst into excited chittering again, they turned to see the battle in Bracket A had begun. Raihan and Cynthia grinned widely, and quickly settled down to watch.

* * *

“_And Butterfree sends Snorlax on its back! It’s getting dicey, folks! With two Dynamax moves left for each of them, who’s gonna win?_” The stadium’s raucous applause made it feel like it was raining heavily on top of his head, Leon thought as he hurried through the corridors of Wyndon Stadium, phone clutched in his hand. Detective Robin ran in front of him, and behind them, Leon had his hand wrapped around Ricki’s wrist, as his assistant did her best to catch up with them with Leon’s help. At their heels was Robin’s Boltund, carrying with him Ricki’s Growlithe by the scruff of her neck fur. 

“The Gym Ranking Tournament will be an hour, maybe two, tops.” Robin said, “According to my source, we should find evidence of Team Rocket in the maintenance shafts.”

“There shouldn’t—_huff_—be anyone there!” Ricki called from behind Leon, and Leon nodded in agreement. “All the MC staff members are—_oof_—accounted for!”

“Well, _ someone’s _ in there.” Robin said, and they skidded to a halt in front of an access door. All of them came to a stop when he did, Robin’s Boltund letting Charkie down onto the ground with an apologetic whine. “Chairman, if you please?”

“R-right.” Leon hadn’t even broken a sweat, and quickly swiped his access key on the door lock. “Detective, I don’t want—”

“I know.” The blond nodded, and turned to his assistant. “Miss Ricki, could you quickly check up on the competitors? I have a hunch that there could be something weird there, too.” 

“Right.” Ricki nodded, and looked down at her Growlithe. “Charkie, let’s go.” She said, and the Growlithe barked in acknowledgement. Leon watched Ricki as she hurried away, frowning in worry, but the detective patted Leon’s shoulder heavily. Leon and Robin shared a look, and the detective nodded, gesturing for Leon to follow after him as he stepped into the maintenance corridor, his Boltund at his heels. Leon made a move to follow after him, when the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him made Leon stop. 

“Chairman Leon. It’s a fine evening to watch Pokémon battles. I thought you _ loved _to watch them?” 

He turned around, fighting the wince that threatened to show on his face as he saw a thin man dressed in the blues and oranges of the duchy of Hammerlocke. Almost the opposite of what Leon was wearing, really—like Raihan had made the conscious choice of being _ different _from this man, even when he wore this suit several months ago. 

The man’s pale face had the same striking blue of Raihan’s eyes, and was all sharp cheekbones and pointy chin around an ill-fitting smile. His suit—silken and lavish as most of Raihan’s closet—bore the dragon insignia of Hammerlocke, embroidered in gold on his breast pocket, and a golden chain hung from it, attached to an emerald dragon pin. Leon blinked at the man as he gave Leon an elegant bow, offering his white-gloved hand to him. 

Leon knew it was faux pas to scowl, and he would have let this man know _ exactly _what he was feeling, were it not for the fact he’d been caught being suspicious, as well. He gently shut the door behind him, and reached out to take the man’s hand to shake.

“Lord Narcissus.” He said flatly.

Raihan’s uncle was _ nothing _like him. The strong, loving bond that Leon could see between Sena and Kabu was nowhere to be found between this man and his dragon.

“The staff corridors of Wyndon Stadium could barely hold a candle to your radiance.” Narcissus said, kissing Leon’s knuckles and Leon immediately regretted the Hammerlocke bloodline’s propensity for confidence and charming greetings. Leon squeezed his hand in warning, and forcibly lowered it into a firm handshake. Narcissus smirked at that, but allowed Leon to pull away. “I’d been meaning to have a word with you, Chairman. It seems now is a good time, while the rest of the stadium is preoccupied? I have a bottle in my private box, and I shan’t finish it alone.”

“_And the crowd goes wild! Leader Rhodora advances to the next round to take on the seeded Minor League Champion, Leader Klara!_”

Leon peered at the doorway where Detective Robin had left through. 

“Sure.” 

“_And with that, we start with Bracket B, with Leader Sena of the Electric-type Gym, and Leader Chrom of the Steel-type Gym!_” The announcer cheered, and the crowd’s thunderous applause shook the stadium again. Leon looked up at the ceiling, and frowned.

So much for looking forward to seeing Sena battle, he supposed. 

Narcissus nodded, and gestured for Leon to follow him. The both of them strode away from the maintenance access door, and Leon hoped that Robin would be alright on his own.

* * *

Sena bounced on his heels, watching the battle end from the screen inside the waiting room. The Electric-type Gym uniform was cute, he had to admit, with the leggings and the shorts and jersey, but he still opted to go with his own loafers, and added a yellow necktie with several colourful pins as an accessory. Frowning to himself thoughtfully as he inspected himself in the mirror, he decided to roll up the right sleeve up to his elbow, and pulled his glove on. 

“Phew.” Sena sighed. “I think I’ll add a bit more to this as I go, but this is about it.” He hummed, tapping his toes on the ground. “Right…”

He fastened his Pokéball harness around his waist under his jersey, and his thigh over his tights, rolling his shorts down over the belt. He stopped, and smiled sadly at the four Pokéballs fastened to the harness. 

“Alright, guys… let’s do this.” He murmured, and then _ jumped _when he saw the previous trainer stomp into the room, looking furious. He deflated at the sight of him, and stood aside as the young man dropped himself down onto the bench, shaking his head. They stayed there in tense silence for a long moment, before he finally turned to look at Sena. 

“H-hi.” Sena greeted awkwardly, giving him a sheepish little smile, and the young man smiled weakly at him, before shaking his head, hanging it sadly. Sena peered at his uniform—the white patterns, the black highlights on the sleeves—and realised this was the Normal-type Gym Leader. “Oh!” He said quietly, and strode over to him, offering his hand for the young man to shake. “That was a tough battle. You did your best.”

The young man glowered at him, and Sena jerked in alarm. He shook his head, burying his face in his hands. 

“That wasn’t a tough battle.” He hissed. “She was _ cheating._”

“Huh?” Sena blinked, but a League staff member peered into the room. 

“Leader Sena? Leader Sena!” He called. 

“C-coming!” He called, and turned back to the other man. “What do you mean?”

The young man peered up at him past his drooping brunet bangs. “Her Pokémon—all of them—look… _ weird. _ Like they’re not… alright.”

Sena felt his blood go cold, as Leon’s voice echoed in his head.

_ The Pokémon don’t look… alright. _

“No way.” Sena breathed softly. 

“Leader Sena, please?”

“R-right!” Sena jumped, and he turned back to the young man. “I’ll… I’ll avenge you.”

“Sure you will.” The man huffed, shaking his head. “Make it to the finals, kid.”

Sena nodded determinedly, and hurried out onto the pitch.

The trainer left behind sighed, shaking his head as he leaned back in his seat. He frowned thoughtfully when a League staff member approached him, smiling sweetly. 

“Um.” He said. “Who are you?”

“Who I am isn’t important.” He said. “Tell me, do you want your team to grow stronger?”

The trainer sat up straight, frowning deeper. “What do you mean?”

“What if I told you…” He knelt down in front of him, and pulled out a hexagonal device from his pocket. “That there’s a way for your team to grow instantly stronger?”

The other man’s eyes widened, as he stared at the little device. 

“I…”

“It’s a new Macro Cosmos product.” He said. “It’ll teach your Pokémon new moves instantly—no TM‘s required. It could even learn new moves it normally couldn’t. Could be useful, for the rank qualifier for the next loser.” The League staff member cocked his head. “Hm?”

The trainer hesitated, and took a shaky breath. 

“I’ll take six.”

* * *

“It has come to my attention, Mr. Chairman, that there seems to be an increased police presence at Wyndon Stadium.” Narcissus said, swirling his wine glass. Leon held his own glass of wine gingerly by the stem as he peered into the pitch, seeing Sena’s battle against the Steel-type Gym Leader go underway. He couldn’t see much of what was happening, but he could hear the crowd going wild, at least. Neither Sena nor Chrom were Dynamaxing just yet, but from the sound of constant Pokéball deployment, one of them was frequently switching Pokémon around. 

“Well, it’s a… safety precaution.” Leon said carefully. 

He didn’t like that they were in a private box, far away from where Leon could call for help, but he wasn’t _ too _ worried—he had Red, Achilles and Danny with him in a concealed holster under his suit jacket. Still, it simply felt _ awful, _just being in the same room as Narcissus, and Leon took a sip of the wine—Applin wine, from the stocks in Hammerlocke’s basement, Leon knew. 

(He and Raihan stole a bottle for themselves a month after they first got together.) 

He didn’t like the implications of it, either. 

“A safety precaution.” Narcissus echoed. “For a tournament that lasts maybe an hour, an hour and a half?” 

“Well, you never know.” Leon huffed, turning away from Narcissus to watch the match, and his eyes widened to see that Chrom had Gigantamaxed his Corviknight. “Oh, it’s almost over already?” 

“Oh, no. From what I heard, Leader Chrom has a habit of Dynamaxing early.” Narcissus said, and Leon turned his gaze back to him. “What’s the matter, Chairman? Don’t tell me you’ve started fearing your own shadow, as Rose had before you.”

Leon bit down on the inside of his cheek. He knew Narcissus was trying to rile him up, or maybe distract him from something, but he wasn’t sure _ what, _ exactly. Or _ why. _

“No, I haven’t.” Leon replied. “I received a call from Warwick Yard requesting for a heightened police presence in Wyndon Stadium during the Ranking Tournament, that’s all.” He said. “Heaven knows what they know. I sure don’t.”

“So why bother with the enhanced presence?” Narcissus asked, raising an eyebrow. “Surely that seems like a waste of Galarian taxpayer money.”

“Why the concern, Lord Narcissus?” Leon frowned, cocking his head. “Security is security. I don’t see why the House of Commons is so concerned about this. We’re still drawing in tourists, even if it’s the Minor League.” 

“Certainly, it’s of much benefit. I won’t deny that, lovely Mr. Chairman.” Narcissus took a sip of wine, and Leon resisted the urge to punch him. “But the implications of Detective Robin and an increased police presence… why, one would think _ you, _Mr. Leon, ex-Champion of Galar, failed to resolve the case of those three Team Rocket hooligans in Thornton a week ago.”

“How so?” Leon was close to snarling, and he mentally catalogued the room—CCTV shouldn’t be able to catch him if he socked the man in the chin, would it?

“Well, with all this worry in the air, I’d assume that Team Rocket would still be up to no good, and that would be on _ you, _Leon.” Narcissus said primly. “And that would not look good on you, would it?”

“Are you saying it’s _ my _ fault that these _ criminals _commit crimes?” Leon snapped, and the other man smiled slowly, raising his hands in an attempt to calm Leon down. “Last time I checked, sir, I wasn’t the one who signed the law that threw Pokémon into quarantine facilities where anyone could just come by and steal them.”

“Oh?” Narcissus’s grin widened. “Are you talking about the PSEA, my dear?”

Leon shook his head, huffing exasperatedly as he put his wine glass down with nothing short of a slam. “I’m just saying that it’s _ rich _ to hear _ you _ complaining about what I do with security at _ my _ event, when _ you _ decided that the resolution to species invasion was to tear Pokémon and their trainers apart in the name of _ safety._” He snarled. “I will do what it takes to protect my Gym Leaders, my staff members and my guests.” Leon stormed past Narcissus, his high heels clacking angrily against the ground as he went. “And I will do it _ my _way.” 

“Certainly, Mr. Chairman.” Narcissus bowed his head at Leon as he approached the door. “By the by, how is my nephew?” 

Leon came to a stop at the door, and finally allowed himself to wince. 

Raihan wasn’t communicating with his uncle while he was at Sinnoh. He’d told Leon that he was only talking to his mum over calls like they had, and Leon knew he didn’t want anything to do with Narcissus while he was there.

Hell, _ Leon _wouldn’t want Narcissus to go poking his nose into whatever Raihan was doing in Sinnoh. Raihan deserved a Pokémon journey without his uncle’s maddening meddling in the mix.

(Not like last time, when Raihan was 13, and already bearing dirty looks from the elite for his decision to follow his dream. Leon swore then that he would protect Raihan from that kind of scorn, for the rest of his life.)

“He’s fine.” Leon said, and opened the door. 

“Any news regarding his progress in the Sinnohan League?”

“The season hasn’t started yet.” Leon lied, and stepped outside. “Good. Evening.”

Narcissus smirked at Leon’s back, and the younger man slammed the door shut behind him. 

Leon _ booked _it, sprinting away from the door, until he made it into the corridor where the Gym Leaders’ private box was. Panting softly, Leon shook his head, pressing his hand to his heart as he leaned against the wall. 

“Jeez,” He shook his head, and checked his phone. “Thanks for telling Detective Robin where I was, Rotom.”

“_No problem__!_” The Pokémon in his phone chirped, as Leon unlocked his screen. A message from Ricki told him she hadn’t found anything incriminating in the west-wing locker room, and was now on her way to the east-wing locker room. Leon nodded, and made a move to tuck his phone into his jeans pocket, when he heard an explosion from far away.

His head jerked up—it wasn’t from Sena and Chrom’s battle. 

Leon’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he quickly looked at it, to see that Robin had texted.

_ I found two TR grunts in the maintenance corridors. One of them let spill that there’s a Rocket Controller in the area, and my Boltund and I are currently apprehending them. I’ve let Miss Ricki know to look for a TR controller. _

Leon’s hand shook as he sent back a reply. 

_ Lord Narcissus was asking about you being here. _

Robin’s reply came quickly.

_ Well, that’s not good. I don’t think TR is here just to disrupt the tournament. _

Leon’s eyes widened at his phone. 

_ I found a whole bunch of other controllers in here. They’re being made with the MC logo on them. _

Leon straightened up, hurrying towards a window that let him look at the pitch, and watched as the Gigantamax Corviknight shrunk to its regular size after being knocked out. Sena was right across him, grinning despite being covered in sand, and threw out a Dynamax ball.

Leon lit up as a Gigantamax Pikachu towered over the stadium, and he sighed softly. 

“Oh, Sena. I’m so sorry.” He murmured, pressing his phone over his heart as the second half of Robin’s message burned into his mind. 

_ I think they’re planning to take the Gym Leaders’ Pokémon, too. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > me, sobbing: i am begging you, self. please write literally anything but the sea between us  
my traitorous hands: [pic.twitter.com/lVRXc5vxUN](https://t.co/lVRXc5vxUN)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1255864357247840256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> oh by the way in the gdoc it's actually 87.5k now. so uh. we're gonna be here for a while. 


	18. Welcome Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Something doesn’t seem right with that Leader Rhodora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > squints. hol up. [pic.twitter.com/sn7yV81mKA](https://t.co/sn7yV81mKA)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [April 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1255827695507656704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i'm not wrong

“Oh!” Cynthia jumped, clapping delightedly as the Pikachu on screen grew bigger, and bigger, and _ bigger. _ “She’s _ massive!_”

“Whoa!” Raihan laughed, a little more subdued than Cynthia, now that the egg he was taking care of was on his lap. He petted it gently when it wiggled in excitement along with them. “Sena really got himself a Gigantamax Pikachu, huh? Good on him.”

“Those are rare, aren’t they?” Cynthia asked. “Either that or you train the G-Max factor into them.”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Gladiolus is like that.” He gently petted the Duraludon, who was intently watching the match, unmindful of Raihan’s touch. “And that training took time. Sena probably just found this Pikachu.”

“Lucky.” Cynthia murmured. “Finally caught a break, huh.”

“I suppose.” Raihan peered at the team match up between the two trainers. “Sena brought four Pokémon to a six-team battle, and is gonna walk away with three of them awake.”

“Yeah, there’s a clear winner between the two of them.” Cynthia nodded. “A trainer who can’t adapt to their opponents and relies on brute force won’t last long in the Major League, I bet…” She hummed. “And Sena’s… really _ something else._”

Raihan whistled. “Wouldn’t wanna face _ that _unprepared.” He laughed. 

“Well, you won’t have to, if he doesn’t make it to Major League.” Cynthia said, and Raihan shook his head.

“He will.” He said firmly, and the egg wiggled in his lap, as if in agreement. Raihan laughed fondly, and stroked the egg. “And you agree too, huh?”

“I think it wants to battle Sena someday.” Cynthia smiled. 

“Me too, buddy.” Raihan murmured, settling down as they watched Sena’s Pikachu bathe the field in a sea of electricity with G-Max Volt Crash. The opposing Bronzong dropped to the ground with a clang that Raihan felt more than heard, twitching weakly, paralysed. “He’s gonna make it to finals, I’m sure of it.”

Cynthia smiled at him fondly, and nodded. “Then I’m sure it'll happen.” She said.

* * *

“_And the trainer that advances to the next round to face Leader Avery is Leader Sena!_” The announcer’s voice echoed through the air, and the room erupted in cheers. Leon jumped as he shut the door behind him, smiling helplessly when he saw Gordie excitedly shaking Kabu’s seat, the older man laughing softly into his fist.

“That’s Kabu’s kid!” Gordie cheered, “Holy shit! That was _ something, _alright!” 

(Kabu’s “Gordie, please, he’s my _ nephew._” through laughter went mostly unheard.)

“It really was.” Marnie nodded eagerly. “Switching repeatedly between Pokémon during battle? Now _ that’s _a strategy.”

“An actively-infuriating strategy, that is.” Bede smirked into his palm. “Someone’s _ asking _for a smack up the head.”

Kabu was positively _ glowing, _ even if he had a demure little smile on his lips. Leon smiled in relief as the commotion in the Gym Leader box calmed down, and he dropped himself down on the armchair next to the door with a heavy sigh.

“You look like you could use a drink.” Piers said, and Leon jumped, clutching his chest in shock. The other man raised an eyebrow at him, and Leon laughed exasperatedly, shaking his head as he straightened up in his seat. He shook his head, but accepted the glass of water Piers offered him. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Leon sighed, taking a gulp of water gratefully. “Arceus, it’s so good to see you again.”

Piers shrugged, smiling slightly. “Marnie called me over. I’m not a man who says no to Marnie.” He raised his own glass of water, gesturing at his little sister as she chatted excitedly with the little Champion. “Not when I get to see how much colour’s in her cheeks now.”

“She’s really opening up.” Leon nodded. “Spikemuth’s been renovating. Have you been to see it?” 

“Yeah.” Piers nodded. “It’s already looking a lot like the way I remember it when I was little.” He hesitated, and he shook his head. “Nah, even better than I remembered it.” He huffed fondly. “Means a lot, Leon.”

“It’s nothing at all.” Leon shook his head. “It’ll take a little longer for us to get started on the Gym construction, but it’s in the plans.” He peered at the little Champion, who was currently giggling into their hand at something Bede had said. “I’ll be asking Gloria’s help with the Power Spot problem.” 

“With that Eternatus thing, eh…” Piers hummed, as beyond them, the next battle began. “Have you read Sonia’s new book on it?” 

“Not really.” Leon sighed. “I would normally have Sonia or Hop explain it to me, but I don’t usually have the time to read for leisure.” He gave Piers a little grin. “Something tells me _ you’ve _got better luck on planes flying to Arceus-knows-where. Where’re you headed off to, after this?”

“Sinnoh, hilariously enough.” Piers said, and he and Leon shared a private laugh together. “I’ll say hi to Raihan if we ever see each other.” 

“Please do.” Leon nodded. 

Piers huffed a little breath of a laugh through his nose. “Anyway. Apparently, it sheds? And that the bits of it that it does shed—I suppose it’s a scale, isn’t it—would be the wishing stars that make up our Dynamax Bands.” 

“Right, right.” Leon hummed. 

“Marnie figured, maybe just,” he made an ‘I-dunno’ sound, shrugging one shoulder. “Bury one in the ground, see what sticks.”

“Huh.” Leon blinked at him. Outside, the crowd went _ wild, _briefly catching Piers and Leon’s attention. “What’s going on?”

“_Bullshit!_” Nessa shouted, shooting up onto her feet, and the tinkling bells on her hoop earrings a complete contrast to the rage in her voice. “I call bull _ shit, _ how can a Braviary learn that move _ that fast, _it doesn’t make any sense!”

“_Shadow Claw?_” Leon jumped when he heard even _ Allister _ exclaim. “That’s not right! It’s a TM move that takes _ ages _for Pokémon to learn!” 

“Something’s up.” Piers frowned, getting up, and Leon got up after him. The two men hurried to the window, watching in shock as Leader Klara’s Salazzle went down with a brutal swoop. The pink-haired young woman’s eyes were uncharacteristically wide in shock as the Braviary came swooping down again with a Shadow Claw, but with the ferocity of a Brave Bird in it. Leon and Piers gaped at the sight as Klara shook her head desperately, immediately sending her fainted Salazzle back into her ball before the Braviary could connect. 

“What the _ fuck._” Piers breathed. 

“What the fuck, indeed.” Gordie scowled. “What the hell. How are the judges not calling foul on this?” 

Leon frowned, looking at his phone. Robin’s update had been before Leon went into the room. The text from the detective told Leon that he was back outside the maintenance halls, after securing three other Team Rocket grunts. Robin reported that he’d had them escorted to the lobby, but he was sure there were at least two more in the building. 

Ricki was worryingly silent. 

“I don’t like this.”

“Leon?” Milo asked, cocking his head kindly. “What’s wrong?” 

“Leon.” Kabu said sternly. 

Leon shook his head. “I…” He hesitated. “Gym Leaders. Champion. I… I have to go.”

“Do you need someone with you?” Kabu asked, and Leon bit his lip. “Leon, take at least one of us with you.”

“I’ll go.” Piers volunteered, taking Leon by the elbow. “We’ll go faster if we split up.” 

“Me too!” Gordie volunteered, “Mum’s down in the judging box. I gotta go see if she’s alright.” 

“Thank you.” Leon sighed, and Kabu made a move to get up. Leon held his hand out at him. “Please, Kabu. Stay here. Sena would want you to.”

“Frankly, he would want _ you _watching more than he wants me.” Kabu grumbled, and Leon laughed softly. “But fine. Go. I’ll watch over the children.”

“Hey, wait,” The little Champion began to protest, but Milo held their wrist, pulling them to sit back down. 

“If things go to pot, they’ll need us here.” He said reassuringly. “Let them go. If things go terribly up here, we’ll be on standby.” Milo peered at Leon, and nodded firmly. “Nessa and I will stay here with Kabu.”

“You owe us an explanation after all this.” Nessa scowled, and Leon gave them a helpless smile. 

“Thank you, truly.” He said, and nodded at Piers and Gordie. “Let’s go.”

“Right.” The two men nodded, and hurried after Leon out the door.

* * *

“Something doesn’t seem right with that Leader Rhodora.” Cynthia frowned, and she turned to look at Raihan, who was scowling at the TV. His eyes were thinned into slits, and she whistled lowly. “Hold it in, dragon boy.” 

“She’s cheating.” Raihan growled, clutching the egg tightly. “She’s…” He peered at Cynthia, and sighed, deflating into the couch. “Sorry. I… I just…” He made a helpless gesture at the TV. “I think I’ve seen this before.”

“Huh?” Cynthia blinked. “How? _ Where?_”

“When I left Galar, Leon and I fought some Team Rocket grunts along with that Leader Sena.” He said, and Cynthia’s eyes widened. “Their Pokémon looked _ exactly _like Leader Rhodora’s.” 

“Like… what?” Cynthia asked. 

“Like they’re… dying.”

Cynthia’s expression fell, and the raucous cheers of the crowd on the TV echoed hollowly as Leader Rhodora’s victory shot her straight to finals. 

“You don’t think…” The blonde began, as Raihan reached for his phone. 

“I dunno. But I think it’s worth telling Leon.” He said, quickly sending a text to Leon. In front of them, the conclusion of Rhodora’s battle brought in Sena’s next battle, but neither Raihan nor Cynthia were paying attention, worriedly waiting at Raihan’s phone for Leon’s reply.

When his phone buzzed, the two jumped in alarm, and Raihan hurried to open Leon’s message.

_ I knew it. We think the judges are compromised, too. _

“Oh, I’m glad Leon’s caught on.” Cynthia sighed, and she looked at Raihan. “Aren’t they—Raihan?” She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his scowl, his eyes thinned into draconic slits as his grip tightened on his phone. “Reel it in. Take it easy.”

“_Ugh, _ I hate this.” Raihan growled, and there was an otherworldly timbre to his voice. The three dragons with them all jerked in alarm, and bowed down to him like second nature, trembling slightly. Raihan gasped, reeling himself in quickly enough as he buried his face in his hands. “_Fuck! _Shit! Sorry, guys…” 

Gladiolus was first to recover, leaning over to nuzzle Raihan’s cheek reassuringly. 

The egg in Raihan’s lap wiggled, too, and Raihan laughed, petting it gently. 

“Must’ve scared you too, huh?” He asked. “I’m sorry.”

Cynthia reached out to pet it, too, when suddenly it wiggled again. Harder, this time, more desperately, and Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“Oh, shit!”

“Oh!” Cynthia lit up. “Raihan, I think—I think it’s hatching!” 

“I—” Raihan burst out laughing in delight when the egg suddenly glowed brightly on his lap, and a faultline began to appear from the tip of the egg. “Oh, shit! It’s here, it’s finally here!”

Raihan’s Rotom Phone was in the air in an instant, quickly recording Raihan’s reaction as the egg began to crack open. It wiggled harder in Raihan’s lap as the crack began to grow bigger. 

“C’mon, baby! That’s it, you can do it!” Raihan urged. 

“It’s right on time.” Cynthia smiled, as it wiggled even harder. The crack split down the side, and she jumped. “Oh!”

“That’s it, that’s it!” Raihan grinned. “Do your best!”

The crack grew larger and larger, until a large chunk fell off. Raihan nodded eagerly, and helped the baby push off the rest on top of its head. He held his breath as he watched it slowly straighten up in his lap, blinking up at him with wide eyes as the rest of the egg fell down to the ground. 

“Oh, Arceus.” Cynthia breathed. “Are you _ fucking _kidding me.”

A little light blue shark-like baby Pokémon looked up at the world at large, big black eyes wide open with wonder as a large, toothy mouth hung open in awe. Its stubby little arms flailed slightly, and Raihan could feel his eyes prickle as he saw it gingerly try to stand up. 

“Hi, baby…” He breathed, gently picking it up into his arms to carry it like a baby. It yawned softly, cuddling into Raihan’s chest, and he chuckled fondly, gently rubbing the tip of its snout with his finger affectionately. “Oh, wow.” He brushed aside some eggshell shards caught in the baby Pokémon’s rough skin, and grinned up at Cynthia. “It’s…” He laughed helplessly. “I have no idea what this is.”

Cynthia laughed fondly, shaking her head. “That’s called a Gible, Raihan.” 

“Gibble, huh…” Raihan hummed. “Honestly, that’s an adorable name. It’s gonna be hard to come up with something for you, huh?” He poked its nose again, and it wiggled its nose. “Oh, you’re so cute.” He said shakily, trying not to cry. 

“Okay, hold on. I’m gonna go call Professor Rowan real quick, he said we have to take this baby to him to get it sorted out and everything.” Cynthia said, jumping off the couch. “I’ll be right back, just hold her there!”

“Wait, how do you know it’s a girl?” Raihan called, but Cynthia was already out of the living room. Raihan shook his head, and grinned at the Rotom Camera pointed at him. “Look. It’s a baby Gibble. I’ll probably just keep calling her that from now on, it’s too catchy.” He huffed, shaking his head, but he was quickly thronged by his other dragons, all eager to see the new baby. 

Gibble—well, her name for now, Raihan told himself—clung onto Raihan fearfully as Gooms, Darude and Gladiolus leaned over her, and Raihan laughed, gently ushering his team back.

“Give her some breathing space, guys.” He said, “She’s just a baby, just like you all were.” 

Gladiolus seemed to reel himself in, and Raihan nodded at him, holding Gibble up to let him hold the little Gible’s hand. The baby Pokémon looked up at Gladiolus, and the dragon bowed his head in greeting. 

Gibble moved her whole body to mirror him. Raihan laughed fondly, as Gladiolus let her go and stepped aside. Darude shot forward before Gooms could, and licked Gibble’s cheek. The baby Pokémon wiggled her snout, before lightly nibbling on Darude’s proffered hand. The Flygon looked almost _ offended, _ at first, before remembering himself, and backed off. 

Raihan almost laughed in Darude’s face—he was making the same face he made when his first Trapinches nibbled on him—and he scratched Darude under his chin.

“She’s bitey too, isn’t she?” He chuckled, and Darude huffed. Gooms practically _ shoved _him aside suddenly, and Raihan burst out laughing at Darude’s indignant splutters of protest as she looked down at Gibble, stars in her eyes. “Hey, girl. Be careful now, Gibble’s just a baby.”

Gooms gingerly reached out for Gibble’s hands, and held them gently. 

“That’s it.” Raihan nodded. “Wow, you’re a big sister now, Gooms. How’s that feel?”

She looked up at him, and her eyes welled up with tears. 

“Oh, you love it?” He asked, and she nodded eagerly. Raihan smiled, and stroked her head. “That’s great, girl. I’m sure Gibble will be really happy to have a big sister to look up to.” 

Gooms cheered, and picked up Gibble from his lap. She twirled around the room happily, lifting Gibble into the air, and Raihan jerked in alarm, rushing forward to take the baby Pokémon from Gooms’s hold. The Goodra looked at him pitifully as he tutted, shaking his head as he sat down, setting Gibble back down onto his lap.

The baby Pokémon looked dizzy, but she seemed happy, her arms flapping up and down excitedly. “Well.” Raihan chuckled. “I think she liked that, but I think you should be a bit careful while she’s still so young.” 

Gooms deflated, but nodded sheepishly. 

“You can play together again soon.” Raihan said placatingly, as Cynthia hurried back into the room. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She smiled, sitting back down next to Raihan, wagging her finger in front of Gibble’s snout. “We’ll go see Professor Rowan tomorrow. He’s currently out with an old student of his.”

“Okay.” Raihan nodded, bundling Gibble up in his arms warmly, and Cynthia huffed fondly. 

“Oh, Arceus. You guys are so cute.” She sighed, and Raihan grinned at her. 

“Oh, by the way.” He said, “How’d you know it was a girl?”

Cynthia gestured for him to turn Gibble around, and he did. She gently ran her finger down the spine of Gibble’s dorsal fin, and Raihan blinked at her. “If a Gible’s dorsal fin is a straight edge, she’s a girl. A male Gible—and the rest of the evolutionary line, really—has a notch on the dorsal fin.”

“Oh.” Raihan hummed, nodding as he turned Gibble back around to face her. “Next question. Why’d you react like that when she hatched?”

“Oh, you’ve gotta see this.” Cynthia shook her head, grinning. “Could you ask your Rotom to scan your Gible?”

“Uh… okay?” Raihan turned to his phone. “Rotom, could you have a look at Gibble?” 

“_Scanning!_” It chirped, before continuing: “_Gible: the Land Shark Pokémon. Dragon/Ground type. Gible once lived in the tropics, and to avoid cold, it lives in caves warmed by geothermal heat._”

Raihan blinked at the Gible in the picture, and then down at Gibble. 

“She’s…” He said faintly. “Got a different colour.”

“Yep.” Cynthia nodded. “That little girl right there’s a shiny.” She tickled Gibble’s tummy, and the baby wiggled in Raihan’s arms, giggling. “Oh, you’re so _ cute. _ Yes, you are!”

“Shiny.” Raihan grinned, and looked up at his Rotom Phone. “Well, [my Rotom’s shiny](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1210359525485580288), too.”

“What the _ hell._” Cynthia deadpanned. “I’d almost call that unfair, Raihan.”

The dragon of a man grinned at her, thumbing at his nose, and she rolled her eyes, settling back against the couch—

“_And Leader Sena wins! It’s the battle of the newbies in the finals, folks—Leader Sena, versus Leader Rhodora!_”

Raihan and Cynthia stopped, and turned to look at the TV. 

“Oh, fuck.” Raihan said, laughing helplessly. “We completely missed the semis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > lies down. i finially finished the ranking tournament. [pic.twitter.com/oGC9M7uWil](https://t.co/oGC9M7uWil)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 3, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1256858510416986112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> actually, i've finished the ranking tournament. there will be raileon sex after this i swear it's only right at this point
> 
> sena's fighting style was unintentionally ripped off elesa <strike>i didn't play black and white ok</strike> and i'm so fucking sorry


	19. Rocket Machinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just once,” he grumbled, “I’d _love_ to have an event that _isn’t_ threatened by evil forces…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > LEMONS CAME HOME TO GALAR WE DID IT BOYS!!!!!!! [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/Vm4GSdfEiH](https://t.co/Vm4GSdfEiH)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 9, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1259045798089654275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> I'M SO HAPPYYYYYYYYY i finally got [my own switch](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1258201576147054593?s=20) and got lemons into my galar playthrough!!!! i'm so happy..... it took a whole lot of effort (from my pokego, to my sister's let's go eevee, to my sister's pokemon home, and then her copy of pokemon shield and then to my copy of pokemon sword!) but i've managed !!! to get !!!! PSEA clearance for lemons!!!! HE'S HOME!!! <strike>this is by no way how sena's getting lemons back, by the way</strike>
> 
> by the way **WARNING: there is depiction of mild animal trauma and blood**, but then again, this _is_ pokemon. so. y'know. word of warning, just to be safe. 
> 
> anyway god. acnh, huh....... [villager voice] wahoo !

When Ricki signed up for the position of Executive Assistant, she was expecting a mostly-sedentary occupation. Maybe a business trip or two, hellscapes of weeks on end of stress from running the largest company in Galar. She’d immediately applied for the job the moment the then-Chairman Rose was gone, knowing that Miss Oleana would be gone as well. 

Bless her heart, Miss Oleana worked so hard. Ricki hoped to work just as hard as she did for the new Chairman, and hell, it was a nice bonus that she’d been a massive fan of Leon since he was Champion. She’d been elated, when she learned she’d been hired. 

She didn’t have to focus on her family’s police Pokémon nursery and training centre, and she could live the Wyndon city girl lifestyle she’d dreamed of for herself and her beloved little Charkie.

Right now, though, she was stuck on the floor of a commentator’s booth, gagged and tied up with zip ties to a heavy-duty microphone pole—didn’t these grunts know she could just _ lift _ the pole? She’s wrangled _ Arcanines _ who didn’t want to take baths—while her little Charkie was in a cage, barking angrily at the Meowth that _ somehow _was also talking. 

(Talking Pokémon. Who knew? Maybe she could teach Charkie to talk, someday?)

The two commentators—because _ of course _ the commentators, _ non-League staff, _ would be the culprits—were excitedly commentating Leader Sena and Leader Avery’s battle below them when she arrived. Ricki wouldn’t have gotten into trouble, really, if she hadn’t discovered their uniforms in the back, and now there she was, stuck on the ground, her phone still on her, sure, but she was unable to call for help. 

Oh, Leon was expecting for her to contact him by now. He was probably worried. 

Ricki sighed sadly to herself, as she listened to the crowd beyond them cheering wildly. The man and the woman—Jessie and James, she quickly found out—jumped up and down in their seats in excitement, too, and she couldn’t quite feel that angry about their excitement at watching Sena win. 

The Meowth was busy in the back, though, being barked at by Charkie, and Ricki mentally filed away in her head to give Charkie as many treats and hugs and kisses as she demanded when—_if_—they got out of there together.

* * *

Meowth peered at the Chairman’s assistant glowering at him from where she sat. She wasn’t really _ that _terrifying, he thought. Her glare had about the same force as a Goomy tackle—which is, frankly, nothing at all. He shrugged her off, and went back to packing Jessie and James’s uniforms into a duffel bag in the back of the room. He jumped, screaming when the Growlithe began to tackle her cage bars, growling angrily. 

“Hey! Watch it!” Meowth drawled, hurrying to the cage. 

“Let us _ out!_” She screamed into his face, and tackled the bars again. “_Let! Us! Out!_”

“Cut it out!” Meowth hissed, as Jessie and James looked at him over their shoulders. 

“Meowth?” Jessie asked, “What is going _ on?_” 

“This Growlithe’s just getting super furious!” Meowth said, and scowled at her. “Wouldja cut it out? You’re coming with us, sister!”

“You don’t understand!” The Growlithe snapped. “We’re _ trying _to stop Team Rocket!”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but we _ are _ Team Rocket.” Meowth frowned, crossing his arms. “So just sit tight n’ pretty there. We promise your trainer’s gonna be okay, we’re not _ horrible _people.” 

“Tell that to the dying team of Flying-types out there!” Growlithe barked at him, and Meowth froze. 

“What?” He cocked his head. “What—what d'you mean?”

“What’s she saying, Meowth?” James asked, but Meowth shook his head.

“I don’t—I don’t get it.” He said, and Growlithe snapped at him. 

“Yes, you _ do!_” She growled. “There’s a Team Rocket controller in the area. Maybe _ several _ of them. And every Pokémon attached to it is going to _ die!_”

“Whaddaya _ mean _ they’re gonna die?” Meowth burst out in alarm, but they all jumped when the Chairman’s assistant began to struggle against her bonds anew. “What the—lady, chill out!”

The assistant let out a shout of effort, suddenly getting up as she hoisted the pole into the air. Jessie and James let out screams of terror as she slammed the pole into the ground next to them, and she roughly yanked her gag off. 

“Let us out right now, we’re _ trying _ to stop that Team Rocket Controller!” She demanded, “I’m _ shite _as a trainer, but even I’ll try my best to make sure those controllers won’t hurt anyone!” 

“Wait—what do you mean?” Jessie stammered, and dug around their bag. “_This?_” She pulled out a complete Team Rocket Controller, and the young woman gasped, jabbing her finger at it.

“That!” She shouted. “It’s _ killing _each Pokémon it’s attached to!” 

“_What?_” Jessie gasped, dropping it to the ground with a clatter. “That’s not what that twerpette said!” 

“What?” The assistant asked, straightening up, as James growled, crushing the controller with the heel of his boot. 

“I _ knew _that sketchy lady was lying.” He said, getting up. “We were told that these controllers teach your Pokémon new moves instantly. No TM‘s required.”

“Oh, Arceus.” The assistant gaped at them. “Who told you?”

“Another Team Rocket member. Elsie, or something.” Jessie scowled. “I _ knew _that smug little face wasn’t trustworthy.”

“I coulda been wearin’ that!” Meowth gasped, jabbing a finger at the assistant. “_I coulda been wearin’ that!_”

“I know!” She snapped, “So let me and Charkie out, right now! If you weren’t up to this, then _ help me! _”

“_She’s in here!_” They heard a voice shout, and they all jumped, screaming in alarm when the door was busted down by a large blond man. “Miss Ricki?” 

“Leader Gordie!” the assistant gasped, as two other men hurried into the room with him. “Leader Piers! _ Boss!_” 

“Achilles, go break Charkie free.” Leon said, and much to Jessie, James and Meowth’s shock, an Aegislash flew into the room, slashing at the bars. 

“Thanks!” Charkie barked, jumping up into Ricki’s arms, before licking at her face affectionately. 

“Charkie!” Ricki cheered, and hugged her Growlithe close. 

The first Gym Leader into the room glowered at Jessie, James, and Meowth. “What’re you three doing here?” He demanded, pulling out a Pokéball from a concealed harness under his formal jacket. 

“Whoops!”

“We’ve been had.” Jessie smirked, and she lifted a smoke bomb. 

“And that means, we scram!” James chimed in. 

“Latah, losers!” Meowth snickered, and they disappeared into a cloud of smoke. The whole room burst into coughing, and with a wave of his blade, Achilles blew the smoke away. The three Team Rocket grunts were nowhere to be found, but Leon didn’t seem to mind, hurrying over to his assistant. 

“You okay?” He asked, squeezing her shoulders, and she nodded. “What happened?”

“The—they were Team Rocket, sir.” She stammered, jumping when Achilles cut the zip ties on her wrists and ankles. “Th-thanks.”

The Aegislash gave her a polite bow. 

“Did they say anything about the judges?” Gordie asked, and Ricki shook her head. “_Fuck._”

“Gordie, I’ll go with you to the judges box.” Piers said, and Gordie nodded. “Leon.”

“Take care, you two.” Leon said, and Piers nodded.

“You too.” He said, and the two of them hurried out of the room. 

Leon turned to look back at Ricki. “Anything else I should know?”

“There’s more than one Rocket Controller in Wyndon Stadium.” She said. “A-and that the Team Rocket agent we’re looking for is named Elsie.”

“Elsie. Right.” Leon nodded. “She’s likely not alone. There were two grunts in here before they disappeared…” He looked out of the window at the pitch, and smiled fondly as Leader Avery’s last Pokémon went down. The crowd went wild as the courtside commentator announced Sena’s victory. “Sena made it to finals, huh.”

“Sir,” Ricki began, and Leon turned to look at her. “I think you should stay and watch the finals at the courtside box.” 

“What?” He blinked at her. “Ricki, I have to look for Detective Robin, and I have to help Piers and Gordie—”

“No, I mean.” Ricki shook her head. “The other Gym Leaders have to battle again, right? For the rank qualifier. You’ve got two battles to sort this all out, but for the last one… I think you have to be there. Just in case.”

“Just in case.” Leon echoed. “I… I see.” 

“Yeah.” Ricki nodded. “For now, I think it’s better if I continued to the east-wing locker room—”

“No, don’t.” Leon shook his head. “Ricki, you’re not an experienced trainer. Go upstairs to the Gym Leader box, and stay there. You’ll be safe with the others.”

His assistant bit her lip, but she nodded. “Alright. Thanks, sir.”

Leon patted her shoulder. “Piers, Gordie and I will take care of things.”

Ricki turned to leave, when Leon spoke up again. “Oh, and by the way, Ricki?”

“Yes, sir?” She cocked her head.

“Not a word of this to Raihan.” He said weakly. “I don’t want him stressing out over us.”

Ricki opened her mouth to protest, but she held herself back, nodding reluctantly. 

“Understood, sir.” She replied, and hurried away. Leon sighed, running his hand through his bangs as he inspected his hair up in a bun—still intact. His feet weren’t killing him in thanks for the high heels, but Leon knew he would feel it much, _ much _later. At home, where he can whine about it to Red while the Charizard worked on massaging his feet. 

He sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly. 

“Just once,” he grumbled, “I’d _ love _ to have an event that _ isn’t _threatened by evil forces…”

* * *

Gordie and Piers came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase leading to the judges’ box. The blond held his hand out at Piers to stop him, hushing him quietly as he pointed at the Zigzagoon standing guard at the door. 

Piers squinted at it, and frowned. 

“That wasn’t there before.” Gordie hissed. “Something’s gone wrong with Mum and the others.”

“Yeah.” Piers dug around his pockets. “Hold on. I got somethin’.” He said. 

“We’re not gonna battle it?” Gordie raised an eyebrow at him, and Piers shook his head. “_My mum’s in there!_”

“Shh, it’s gonna be fine.” Piers hushed him. “Besides, we can’t alert them by suddenly battling out here like a pair of wankers. We need to stay quiet.”

“Right.” Gordie’s expression fell, and he let Piers step in front of him. He knelt down, and pulled out a slightly ratty-looking toy from a little bag he had with him. The blond blinked at Piers as he shook it gently, letting the bell jingle pleasantly. “What. Is that.”

“It’s my Obstagoon’s old toy when he was a Zigzagoon.” Piers said. “Calms him right down, it’s got mints in it that Zigzagoons really like.” He shook the toy again, and the Zigzagoon at the door whirled around, looking for the sound. “I bet we can knock that little thing right out, the mint dose in this is for Obstagoon.”

“That sounds like you’re toking up the Pokémon, Piers.” Gordie tried not to laugh, and Piers smirked.

“Like you don’t?” He asked, and finally the Zigzagoon noticed them. It bounded over to them, sniffing curiously at the toy in Piers’s hand, and he reached down slowly to pet it. 

It purred happily, and began to rub against the toy, rolling over on its belly to show Piers and Gordie a horrendous-looking hexagonal nut attached to its belly. 

“Holy shit!” Gordie gasped, “What the hell is that?”

“Gordie? Piers?” Leon called, and the blond looked up to see him sliding along the bannisters down the stairs. Gordie hushed Leon quickly with a finger to his lips, and the other man nodded sternly, jumping off the railing to stand behind them, peering at what Piers was doing. “Piers, are you—_oh, Arceus._”

Leon hurried past Gordie to kneel next to Piers, who looked at Leon worriedly as he pointed at the metal object attached to the Zigzagoon’s belly. They could see specks of blood on the poor thing’s black and white fur. 

“Oh, Zigzagoon…” Leon sighed, gently brushing his fingers over the Team Rocket controller. “I don’t know how to get this thing off.” 

“What is it?” Gordie asked. “It looks… painful.”

“It’s called a Team Rocket Controller.” Leon said, as Piers gently shushed the Zigzagoon until it fell asleep, belly up and kicking in contentment. “Team Rocket uses it to control Pokémon they’ve stolen and force them to obey the holder of the other part of this… thing.”

“Oh, shit.” Gordie hissed, as Leon nodded sadly. Piers shrugged his suit jacket off, and gently wrapped the Zigzagoon in it, setting it next to the wall as it cuddled the toy. “You better make sure you get that back, or your Obstagoon is _ not _gonna be happy.”

“Neither is my stylist.” Piers huffed, gesturing at his jacket. “But I’d rather it wake up comfortable and injured than _ angry _and injured.”

“You’re right.” Leon nodded, and looked at the door. “What’s going on in there?”

“We’re not sure, but that Zigzagoon was guarding the door when we got here. We only just managed to lure it close so Piers could put it to sleep.” Gordie said. “But since you mentioned Team Rocket, I bet _ they’re _ what’s up.”

“Where’d you hear about them?” Piers asked, straightening up as the three men approached the door, Leon coming up at the rear and tiptoeing to keep his heels from making a sound. 

“Mum likes watching those conspiracy theory videos on PokéBook.” Gordie snickered. “Loves laughing at them when they get way off the rails, she says it’s better than the dramas on the telly.” He tried the door quietly, and clicked his tongue. “Locked. Hold on.”

“She’s not wrong.” Piers muttered, as Gordie pulled out a Pokéball from his concealed harness. “I swear to Arceus, if that’s Coalossal you’re throwing out…”

“Shut up, it’s just Noodles.” Gordie waved him off, deploying his Shuckle. Leon chuckled fondly as the Pokémon snuggled against Gordie’s leg, and he scratched its head fondly, before turning back to the door. “Okay, bud. Gastro Acid.”

The Shuckle gurgled for a moment, before surprisingly demurely spitting acid at the doorknob. It hissed softly, and Gordie nodded. “Now, Sticky Web.” 

Noodles spat out a web around the doorknob, and Gordie turned it carefully. It opened soundlessly, and he looked at Leon and Piers.

“Get ready.” He said. “You might wanna take your partners out for this.”

Leon nodded, and deployed Achilles. Piers did the same with his Obstagoon. 

Gordie took a steadying breath, and pushed open the door. The judges box was quiet, and that already wasn’t a good sign. The blond peered into the little crack he made in the door, and frowned. The lights were off, and though the loudspeaker was on and blaring the goings-on of the match outside, there was nothing else that Gordie could hear. 

He gestured for Piers and Leon to follow him, and opened the door fully. Inside, they could see a League staff member slumped over on the ground by the entrance alcove. She was fast asleep, and further inside, they saw a yellow Pokémon, carrying a metal ring on a string. It swung the ring back and forth, as behind it, its trainer—dressed in the Team Rocket uniform, _ of course_—looked on, his arms crossed. 

“What the _ hell _is that?” Gordie hissed, as Piers shot out from behind him.

“Obstagoon, use Throat Chop!” He ordered, and the Pokémon jumped forward, slamming his paw against the other Pokémon’s throat. The yellow Pokémon dropped to the ground like a stone, and the Team Rocket grunt jolted, but came to a halt when Achilles pointed his blade at his throat. 

Gordie hurried forward, sighing in relief when he saw Melony and Mustard safe, sleeping—if a little uncomfortably—on their seats. 

“Oh, Mum.” He sighed, holding her hands as Leon stepped forward towards the Team Rocket grunt, scowling as he crossed his arms.

“You don’t look like an Elsie to me.” He said. 

“Well, duh.” The man said. “I’m Johnie, her brother.” He said, and then jolted in realisation, slapping his hands over his mouth. “Fuck!”

“Gotcha.” Piers said, as Obstagoon carefully held the yellow Pokémon down. “Mind telling us what this is?” He asked, pointing at it, and Johnie blinked at him in confusion.

“You don’t know what a Hypno is?” He said, and winced again. “I gotta stop doing that.”

“Haven’t been long in the business, have you?” Gordie deadpanned, slowly getting up. “Mum and Mr. Mustard are sound asleep. Leon, wanna take a look at this real quick?”

“Right.” Leon nodded, and headed to kneel down in front of Melony, gently raising her face. “There _ should _be… ah.” He gestured at the dark rings under her eyes. “Hypnosis.” He nodded at the Pokémon the Obstagoon was restraining. “That Pokémon made them fall asleep.” He peered at Johnie, who nodded sheepishly. 

“Rotom, could you give it a scan?” Gordie asked his phone, and it bounced once in acknowledgement, before scanning the Hypno under Piers’s Obstagoon. 

“_Hypno: the Hypnosis Pokémon. It carries a pendulum-like device and performs hypnotic attacks._” It chirped, and Leon frowned. 

“Imagine that.” Piers said softly, and nodded at Leon as he got up. “Any ideas on how to wake Mr. Mustard and Melony up?”

Leon gave him a withering smile. “I dunno, Piers. I was on the receiving end of _ Bronzong _Hypnosis attacks, not Hypno—which should be quarantined, by the way.” He turned back to Johnie. “Good thing there’s only one Rocket Controller, isn’t it?” 

“_What? _ We brought whole _ bags _ of the stuff! I just handed out twelve to Leader Chrom and Leader—_fuck, not again!_” The grunt groaned, dropping himself to the ground. He shook his head exasperatedly, but squeaked in terror as Achilles followed after him to corner him against the wall. 

“Shit.” Piers deadpanned. “They’re out there _ right now._”

“Damn it.” Leon shook his head, and looked at Gordie. “Gordie, Melony and Mustard will wake up shortly, now that Hypno isn’t Hypnotising them. Stay here with Piers, I’ll call someone over to take this guy in.” He gestured at Johnie on the floor. “You might wanna frisk this guy over for Rocket Controllers. We’re looking for at least one for the Zigzagoon outside.” 

“Two.” Piers said, and moved the Hypno’s neck fur aside, showing Leon another Rocket Controller buried in the crook of its neck and shoulder. Leon winced at the blood there, and Piers gently smoothed the fur back over the controller. “We’ll see if we can get this thing off ourselves without hurting it too much.” 

“Alright.” Leon nodded. “I have to go. The finals match is about to start.” 

“Right.” Gordie huffed. “I’ll just bring the Zigzagoon in. Leon, are you gonna bring Achilles with you?” The Aegislash made a sound of affirmation, but Leon shook his head. 

“Achilles, stay here and help Gordie and Piers out.” He said. The Aegislash bobbed in acknowledgement. “I’ll be fine with Red and Danny.”

“Gotcha.” Gordie gave him a mock salute. “Take care.”

Leon gave him a mock salute, too, and strode out of the room. He jumped when his phone suddenly rang, and he pulled it out to see it was a message from Raihan. He deflated slightly, sighing happily as he continued walking down the corridors to make his way to the courtside box. 

_ the rt’s going great so far. grats, babe. _

* * *

“Raihan, nose out of the phone, please.” Cynthia said boredly, cuddling Gibble as she dozed off in her arms. They were currently sitting through the commercials that played as Wyndon Stadium prepared for the final battle. 

“I’m texting Leon.” He said, and Cynthia hummed, lifting her head from Gibble’s head to look at him. 

“What for?” She asked, “Well, I mean, I’m sure he’s not busy _ now, _since he’s watching the battles, but…” 

“Just a gut feeling.” Raihan said, and lit up when Leon replied.

_ Thanks. I’m so fucking tired, and my feet are gonna kill me, I just know it. _

He smiled fondly, and sent back a reply.

* * *

_ noooooo dont die ur so sexy _

Leon burst out laughing at that, feeling his eyes prickle with emotion as he came to a stop in front of a large gate that opened out to the pitch. He looked outside, smiling to himself as he held his phone to his heart. 

“Oh, I miss him.” He said softly, watching as League staff quickly cleaned up the astroturf and replaced any missing tiles. “Every time I’m here… I remember him. I remember our battles here, every year… without fail.” He shut his eyes. 

“I wonder what Raihan would do, if he was here…”

His phone vibrated again, and he looked at it.

_ jk jk lmao anyway hows the thing with the judges? the semis battle with the flying chick was fuckn bollocks? hows klara… _

Leon’s expression fell, and his grip tightened on his phone.

“Raihan doesn’t miss a thing.” He sighed.

* * *

_ We don’t know. We’re gonna be looking into it after the tournament. _

Raihan frowned. “Bull. Melony and Mr. Mustard were the two judges this year. I doubt they would let shit like this slide…” 

Cynthia looked at him worriedly, and Gibble hopped off her lap to cuddle Raihan again. Raihan hugged her absentmindedly, stroking her head gently as he frowned. 

“Did he say they don’t know what happened?” Cynthia asked.

“Apparently.” Raihan replied. “I don’t buy it. Knowing Leon, he’d already have seen all this shit coming a mile away, even at Rhodora’s first battle.” 

_ fr? damn. stay safe babe _

He sent back a reply, and kissed Gibble’s forehead. 

“Your other dad’s a knucklehead, y’know?” He said, poking her snout, and she wiggled it. Gladiolus watched them, and beamed. Raihan grinned, and stroked Gladiolus’s side. “Oh, don’t you know it too, buddy.”

Darude pressed his head into Raihan’s delightedly, and Raihan laughed. “Okay, okay. Whoa!”

Gooms cuddled him, burbling delightedly, and he laughed, feeling her cool goo soak his shirt from behind. 

“Okay, okay! Don’t get Cynthia’s couch too dirty, Gooms!”

Cynthia giggled as Raihan cuddled with his Pokémon, but when his Rotom rang, all of them silent, the dragon of a man sitting up as he picked his phone up to read Leon’s reply. 

_ BTW Klara’s okay. I might not be able to reply to you after this. I’m gonna be watching Sena battle in the courtside box with the announcer. Best seat in the house. _

“Glad Klara’s okay…” Raihan muttered, and he shook his head. “But something’s not right. He’s not exactly _ answering _me.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Cynthia said, and Raihan sighed, sitting back in his seat as the commercials came to an end. “You should check up on him when you call tonight.”

“Yeah, I will.” He nodded. “For now, I guess all we can do is wait.”

Cynthia offered him a supportive smile, and patted his knee. 

“He’ll be alright.” She said, and Raihan gave her a little grin.

“I know.” He said. “I just _ wish _he’d be a bit more honest. I thought we were past this.”

“Past what?” she asked.

“Keeping secrets.” He said, and Cynthia looked down at their empty mugs on the coffee table, her expression falling. Raihan shook his head with a huff. “Well, for now, we’ve got a tournament to watch, and I’ll be paying attention! I wanna see Sena at full power!”

* * *

“Right here, Mr. Chairman.” The redhead League staff member said, nervously looking at her blue-haired companion as she led Leon to his seat. “Make yourself comfortable!”

“A bottle of water, sir?” The blue-haired man cooed, but Leon shook his head, glaring intently out at the pitch. “Of course, sir!” They leapt away from him to stand at the door, as their Meowth peeked at them from inside their duffel bag.

“_It’s the king champ!_” Meowth hissed at them, and Jessie and James hushed him in unison, panicked. “_What’re we gonna do?_”

“We’ll lay down low for now.” Jessie said, peering at Leon as he laced his fingers together, resting his chin on top of them as he leaned forward, staring out at the pitch. “I don’t think he recognises us.”

“But Jessie, we can’t risk this!” James hissed, “We’re all out of smoke bombs!”

“_Wobbuffet!_” Jessie’s Wobbuffet popped out of his ball, and the three of them jumped, screaming silently as Leon jolted, turning around to look behind him. 

“We’re sorry for the inconvenience!” Jessie and James sobbed, but Leon lit up. 

“Gloria.” He said, and Jessie and James deflated, realising that the Galarian Champion strode into the room, smiling at Leon sweetly. “Hey.”

“Hi.” They greeted, striding past Wobbuffet, who tripped over their cape. They jumped, and looked at the trio behind them, who stiffened up at their sight. “Oh, hi.” They greeted, and petted Jessie’s Wobbuffet. “Please tell me this big guy knows more moves than Reflect and Mirror Coat.”

“I-I, uh,” Jessie stammered, and Leon laughed, shaking his head as he waved them over. 

“Leave them alone and get over here, jeez.” He said, and the little Champion giggled, giving Jessie and James an apologetic grin and a mock salute before they sat down next to him. The trio heaved a collective sigh of relief, slumping back against the wall. 

The brunet gave them an odd glance over their shoulder, before shaking their head, smiling up at Leon.

“Hey.” They said, “I heard about what happened.” 

Leon sighed, leaning back with a groan. “How much of it?”

“Gordie was on video call with Milo.” They said, and Leon deflated. “Essentially, the whole deal. That’s why I decided to come down here to stay with you.”

“Really.” Leon said, shaking his head. “So. Leader Rhodora.”

“No doubt about it.” They replied. “We’ll be here on standby if she, or anyone else, tries shit.” They frowned, and Leon did a double take. “What? I’m a _ teenager, _I can say fuck if I wanna.”

“Oh, I now know where Hop picked that habit up.”

“Yeah?” The little Champion grinned. “Sonia.”

“I _ fucking _knew it.” Leon groaned, and the brunette laughed brightly. “Oh, shut up. Since you’re already doing it.”

“Funny. I don’t normally hear you swearing.”

“Only when I’m stressed out or tired.” Leon sighed, shaking his head. “Like right now.”

“Can’t blame you for that.” They cocked their head, and they stopped themselves from talking when suddenly the commentator got up. 

“Alright, folks! Now here’s the main event! The decisive Finals match between Leader Sena, and Leader Rhodora!” 

Leon and the little Champion shared nervous looks.

“Here we go.” He said uneasily.

“Let’s hope for the best.” They replied, and they settled down to watch.

* * *

“This is it.”

Sena took a shaky breath as he looked at himself in the mirror. He held his breath, feeling his body trembling, and he wrapped his arms around himself.

“Phew. We got this.”

He turned around, and one by one, let out his whole team. A team of four—not the size he wanted to enter the Ranking Tournament with, but it was apparently enough. He had a gut feeling that Petey was on the brink of evolution, and he was honestly relieved to feel it. 

Maybe this time, people won’t be so shocked when he comes running into a battle with three out of four Pokémon either unevolved or without a final evolution. 

“Hey, guys.” He said, sitting down on the bench as Sunny, Busby, Petey and Barry all huddled around him. “This is it. We’re gonna win this tonight, alright?”

He petted Sunny’s head when she pushed it up into his palm, and laughed sadly. 

“I know Sunny and Petey haven’t met them yet, but let’s all do this for Lemons and Snips, okay?” He said. “And then, tomorrow, when we win… we’ll go see them at the quarantine facility.” Sena smiled sadly, and Barry snuggled against his cheek. “Thanks, B.”

His team all huddled closer, and he hugged them warmly. 

“And… for Leader Rhodora’s Pokémon’s sakes, too.” He said quietly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but they’re… not looking alright.” He balled his hands into fists, and winced. “And I don’t wanna think about what that could mean.”

Sunny licked his cheek, and he laughed softly, rubbing their cheeks together. “Thanks, girl.” He got up, and they all returned to their Pokéballs, wiggly and antsy to get going. Sena looked at each ball with a fond smile as he put them back onto his harness—Busby was in a Luxury Ball he got as a present from back in his time in Alola, while Barry had been a present from Molayne and Sophocles, in a special Pokéball that Sophocles made himself. Sunny and Petey were both in regular Pokéballs, but he would be switching them to something else when he got himself sorted out in Galar. 

“Let’s do this, everyone.” He said, and straightened up, just in time for the League staff member to open the door. “I’m ready.” He grinned at her, and she smiled, nodding.

“Good luck, Leader Sena.” She said, and he strode out past her and towards the pitch.

It was now or never, he thought. He _ had _to win this.

Not just for his sake, but for a whole lot of other Pokémon’s sakes, as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > me writing gordie: and his shuckle is named noodles, and his little brothers named it  
  
also me, holding back tears: oh, i love it
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 2, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1256458250276364293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> gordie is a good boy.... 


	20. All-Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He _loved_ it here. Maybe moving to Galar had been the right move, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > aw shit here we go again [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/BNLSaflLYn](https://t.co/BNLSaflLYn)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 10, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1259312301997305856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> getting a new switch means playing swish all over again. aw shit. i'm coming for your ass again leon
> 
> <strike>with added challenge: not to use the team i used in shield, and, apparently, none of the mons i've transferred in from shield listen to me. not even [the trapinch](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1260800591128752128?s=20) i've named [cereus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23612737) that i've raised from level 1. i'm so upset that even _lemons_ won't obey me.</strike>
> 
> **CONTENT WARNING:** there is description of a pokemon's broken wing as a result of rough battling. the unfezant will end up getting hurt. please take care. if these depictions upsets you, please skip the part of the battle with unfezant. you're safe the moment nurse joy appears.

“_Now entering the stadium from the left, Number 26, the Electric-type Gym Leader Sena!_” 

Sena jogged out from the corridor, waving at the crowd delightedly as he made his way over to the middle of the field. When he reached his destination, he twirled once and gave the crowd a grandiose bow, earning him delighted, deafening cheers from the world above him as he straightened up, grinning like a loon.

Oh, he’d been so nervous, but with the almost-tangible weight of their eyes on him, the heat of the stadium spotlights and the fluttering Drone Rotoms around him, adrenaline shot through his blood, and he was feeling lighter than air again.

It was like he was _ made _for this, soaking up the energy of the crowd. 

He _ loved _it here. Maybe moving to Galar had been the right move, after all.

“_And from the right! Number 283, the Flying-type Gym Leader Rhodora!_”

Sena had only ever seen her in the video feeds inside the locker rooms. Now, facing her off, she didn’t at all seem that intimidating—she had wispy silver hair that was up in a ponytail, and her bangs framed her face with pretty princess curls. Her steel blue eyes weren’t unkind, nor were they friendly—an almost neutral, unassuming face that Sena would have normally completely missed, if he wasn’t facing off against her like this.

Somehow, now, with the unpleasant buzz of unease in his gut, Sena decided that _ this _was the face of terror. 

“Hello, Leader Sena.” Her voice was as neutral as her face. She would make a good secret agent, Sena thought.

And then his heart stopped for a moment.

_ Secret agent. _

Rhodora cocked her head at him, as she offered her hand for him to shake. “You okay?”

_ Mole. _

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” Sena replied, and took her hand. He gave her a bow, and kissed her knuckles. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re charming.” Rhodora giggled as Sena let her hand go, and Sena tried his best to give her a sunny grin. 

“Just the way I am,” he said. “Let me tell you, my first meeting with Chairman Leon went _ way _worse than this.”

He could see a slim line in Rhodora’s brow at the mention of Leon’s name. He tried not to think about what that meant.

“I see.” She said, nodding once, and they both turned around to make their way to their places on either side of the pitch. The referee and his Aegislash flew down between them, and looked at the two of them sternly. 

“_Both trainers are on standby on the field now._”

“Alright, you two. Play nice.” He said to them, before rising up higher to be heard by the rest of the stadium. “We are now starting the Minor League Ranking Tournament Final.” He declared. “The battle will be a 6 versus 4 match, with Leader Rhodora with six Pokémon, and Leader Sena with four. Each trainer is allowed to switch Pokémon as necessary. The first one to incapacitate all of their opponent’s Pokémon wins.”

“Understood.” Rhodora nodded.

“Understood.” Sena nodded, too, biting his lip as nerves came crawling back up his throat.

“Both trainers, choose your first Pokémon!” 

Sena nodded, and sent out Busby. Rhodora released her Cramorant into the field, and her placid expression warped into a vicious smirk. Sena couldn’t help the wild grin that spread across his lips. “And she shows her true colours.” He murmured, taking a shaky breath. “Here we go.”

“Begin!” The referee barked. 

“Cramorant, use Endure!” Rhodora barked, and Cramorant threw its head up to the sky, cawing loudly. Sena frowned in confusion—he’d been watching Rhodora’s battles since the beginning, and he _ knew _ Endure wasn’t part of her Cramorant’s moveset. They couldn’t be switching out Pokémon in the middle of the tournament, they _ registered _ their teams at the beginning, so that _ had _to be the same Cramorant since the beginning, but…

He shook his head. “Busby! Will-o-Wisp!”

The Rotom charged forward, igniting into a fireball that phased through the Cramorant, and its feathers took on a golden hue as it got burned from the inside. Rhodora clicked her tongue, shaking her head as she threw her hand out at the Cramorant.

“Cramorant! Put yourself out with Surf and hit that Rotom!” 

The Cramorant winced, and Sena squinted at it thoughtfully. It’d only been the first minute of battle, but it looked almost ready to collapse. It summoned a large wave of water from the ground, engulfing itself with the wave, and it sighed in relief as it lifted its wings, diving into the wave as it crashed towards Busby. 

The sight of a dark spot under its wing made Sena pause.

“What the—” Sena’s eyes widened. “Was that—”

“_And Leader Rhodora’s Surf puts out Cramorant’s flame! Imagine that, a Water-type on fire!_” 

Sena shook his head. He can’t get distracted now.

_ Hesitate in the middle of the battle, and that’s it! _Raihan’s voice barked in his head.

“Get in the water, Busby!” Sena ordered. “And Volt Switch!”

“_And there it is! Leader Sena’s famous Volt Switch tactic!_” The announcer excitedly cheered as Busby shot into the water. Sena winced as if he was feeling the brunt of the wave’s force slamming against Busby, but the Rotom discharged a powerful wave of electricity into the water, making the Cramorant lose control over it. The wave dissipated into the ground, dropping the Cramorant with a loud thud, and it twitched weakly as it lay on the ground, close to fainting. “_Leader Rhodora’s Cramorant is miraculously still in the count! What a powerful Pokémon!_”

Busby looked a little worse for wear—_fuck, _how strong was that Surf, Sena thought—and shot back into his Pokéball. 

“You’re up!” Sena called, sending out Sunny, and the crowd went wild.

“_Pikachu, the crowd darling! Will she finish Cramorant off?_”

“Leader Sena,” Rhodora taunted from the other side of the pitch, as Cramorant struggled to get up again. “Don’t you know Cramorant eat Pikachu as prey?”

“Prey can bite back, you know.” Sena replied quietly, as he watched the Cramorant flap its wings to test them—letting him see the bolt nut-like structure stabbed into its wing. He shook his head, and threw his arm out at Sunny. “Sunny, Grass Knot!” 

“_Oh! A curveball!_” The announcer exclaimed, as Sunny whipped her tail into the ground. A vine shot up from underneath it and wrapped around the Cramorant, yanking it back down to the ground to finally knock it out.

* * *

“You’d think he’d use Thunderbolt.” The little Champion blinked, but Leon shook his head. “But Grass Knot works better on heavier opponents! Cramorant is so _ light!_”

“No, that’s Sena showing mercy.” Leon said softly. “The Cramorant doesn’t need to get hit any harder.” The brunet’s expression softened, and they turned back to look at the battle. “And besides… I think Sena’s caught on.”

“Caught on?” They asked. 

“I think he’s seen it too—the Rocket controller on the Cramorant’s wing.”

* * *

“_Cramorant is unable to battle!_” The announcer called, as Rhodora put the Cramorant back in its ball, scowling.

“I threw it out first because it was going to go down first, anyway.” She snarled, and Sena bit his lip, holding his ground as she threw out her next Pokémon. “Go! Unfezant!” 

A female Unfezant soared into the sky high above Sunny’s head, and she held her ground as Sena nodded in determination. 

“Aerial Ace!” She ordered, and the Unfezant shot down towards Sunny at breakneck speed. 

“Substitute!” Sena shouted, and Sunny kicked up a cloud of dust with her tail, and Rhodora clicked her tongue, shaking her head. 

“Blow the mess away, Unfezant!” The Unfezant stopped in the middle of her attack, before diving into the dust cloud and flapping her wings _ hard _at where Sunny had been, only to find a Pokedoll in her place. Rhodora rolled her eyes and glowered at Sena. “So you use a coward’s tactic, do you, dandy boy?”

“I prefer strategic retreats.” Sena replied, frowning. “Nasty Plot!”

There it was again—that weird bolt on the bird’s wing, and it looked like flying was difficult with it on. 

Rhodora rolled her eyes. “If you wanna make this battle a snooze fest, be my guest! Unfezant, Hypnosis!” 

“That’s fine!” Sena grinned. “Thanks for wasting your time! Sunny, use Thunderbolt!”

“_What?_” Rhodora gasped, when suddenly Sunny jumped up from where she was hiding on the Unfezant’s back, summoning a bolt of lightning that struck them both. The Unfezant jolted, letting out a cry of pain as she dropped from the sky, and Sunny shook herself, jumping back into her place in front of Sena.

* * *

“Oh!” The little Champion lit up. “He used the Thunderbolt to wake Sunny up!”

Leon smiled, nodding as he crossed his arms. “So that’s how Sena fights.” He laughed softly. “Mind games. Who knew?”

* * *

“_And Unfezant is paralyzed! What a lucky shot!_”

“Ugh!” Rhodora growled, as Sena grinned down at Sunny. 

“Good job, girl!” He nodded. “Finish her off with Grass Knot!”

Sunny slammed her tail on the ground again, but Rhodora let out a furious growl.

“Unfezant!” She screamed. “Use Frustration, you useless bird!” 

The Unfezant’s eyes widened suddenly, and it broke through its paralysis out of sheer anger. She rose up into the air as Sunny’s Grass Knot came flying at her.

“Pika?” Sunny gasped, and leapt out of the way as the Unfezant came charging at her, fury in her eyes. “Pika!” The Unfezant ran herself into the ground, and Sena winced when he heard the only just barely-audible sound of a _ crunch. _

“Oh, fuck!” Sena gasped, slapping his hands over his mouth as he ran towards the Unfezant, kneeling down next to her. 

“Get the hell out of the way!” Rhodora snapped, and Sena glowered at her. 

“Could you give your Pokémon five _ damn _minutes?” He shot back, and turned back to the Unfezant as Sunny came running over. The referee came flying over to them, as above his head, Sena could hear the crowd tittering with nervous energy. “Mr. Dan!” 

“What’s going on?” He asked, getting down from his Aegislash. 

“I heard something break when the Unfezant came crashing down.” He said, and finally Rhodora came over, maybe sensing that the crowd would start getting rowdy if she didn’t. Sena ignored her, and looked back down at the Unfezant, gently turning her over. “I don’t—I—”

He tried to look for the nut he saw on her wing, but all he saw was a gaping injury, where he could see a bone jutting out. “Oh, _ fuck._”

“Time out!” Dan announced, waving his arms and blowing his whistle, and the crowd began to grow louder. He turned back to Sena and Rhodora. “We’ll have a medic come over. Don’t put her in her Pokéball just yet, Leader Rhodora. Nurse Joy will be with us shortly.”

He got back onto his Aegislash and flew away, and Sena was left with Rhodora and Sunny. Sunny climbed up Sena’s back, rubbing her cheek against his comfortingly, as Rhodora frowned down at her Unfezant. 

“So she broke her wing, huh.” She said, crossing her arms. “Damn.”

“Damn, that’s all you can say?” Sena whirled around to glare at her. “_Damn?_”

“Shut up, what do you know?” Rhodora snarled. “You, Mr. Dandy Type Advantage.” 

“What the _ hell _ is that supposed to mean?” The blond retorted. “Your Unfezant just _ broke her wing _ because of _ Frustration. _ A move that’s stronger the more your Pokémon hates you. Why does she know that? Why would you _ teach _ her that, and willingly _ keep _it?”

“Because unlike you, I don’t rely on stupid little mind games and hiding behind stuffed animals.” Rhodora’s voice was acrid, dripping with venom as she glared down at Sena kneeling next to her Unfezant. She eyed Sunny distastefully, and scoffed. “And besides, you use Substitution, which eats your Pikachu’s health by a quarter.” 

“I don’t _ hurt _ her for it.” Sena got up, gently stroking Sunny as she shied away from Rhodora, whimpering softly. “And at least my team doesn’t fucking _ hate me._”

Rhodora rolled her eyes at him, waving him off as Nurse Joy and a few League staff members came rushing towards them. Much to Sena’s delight, Leon was with them, his own Aegislash behind him as he ran. 

“Chairman Leon.” He sighed happily, and it was Sunny’s turn to roll her eyes at his sudden shift in mood. Nurse Joy and a League staff member pushing along a gurney hurried up to them, and gently, Rhodora helped her hoist her Unfezant unto to the gurney. 

“Thank you, Leader Rhodora.” Nurse Joy said, and turned to Leon. “Chairman.” She nodded, and the man nodded back at her. 

“Go. Make sure she’s alright.” He said, and Nurse Joy was escorted away by League staff. Leon turned to look at the two, frowning sternly. “Mr. Dan said _ play nice._”

“We’re trying.” Rhodora deadpanned, and Leon sighed exasperatedly. 

“Please don’t repeat that. Another injury like that and you are disqualified from the finals, Leader Rhodora.” Leon said, and Rhodora’s expression darkened. Leon’s frown deepened, and his eyes glinted dangerously as his Aegislash hovered behind him threateningly. “Am. I. Clear?”

“Yes, sir.” Rhodora mumbled, and strode off back to her spot on the pitch. Sena watched her leave, shaking his head exasperatedly, and Leon patted his shoulder. 

“You’re doing great, Sena.” He said, and Sena lit up, beaming up at him. “Keep it up. I’m so glad you’ve made it to finals.”

“Thanks, Mr. Chairman.” Sena was grinning like a loon, and his grin only widened when Leon leaned forward, as if to whisper in his ear. 

_ Oh, fuck oh shit, oh fuck! _ Sena’s mind was going a mile an hour. _ Oh, sweet Arceus, he smells so good… _

“Sena.” Leon murmured near Sena’s ear. “Leader Rhodora might be Team Rocket. If you spot any strange metal objects attached to her Pokémon…”

Sena’s elation immediately disappeared, and he jolted. “I-I have.”

“_Fuck._” Leon hissed, and Sena’s mind tried not to drop right into the gutter. “Alright. We’ll take it from here.”

“Wait—what is—”

“It’s called a Team Rocket controller. Just…” Leon hesitated, as he pulled away. “Do your best. Hang in there, Sena. Just finish this battle, and we’ll sort everything out. You got this—you’ve got the type advantage.” 

“Right.” He nodded. “I’ll… I’ll do my best.” 

Leon patted Sena’s shoulder heavily, and strode away. Sena watched him leave, sighing dreamily, but he quickly recovered, shaking his head as he went back to his spot on the pitch, Sunny still on his shoulder. 

“_And the battle continues._” The announcer was a little more subdued now, as Dan flew up on his Aegislash. 

“Choose your next Pokémon!” He called, and Sunny made a move to jump off Sena’s shoulder, but Sena held her back, shaking his head. She nodded, settling down on his shoulder as Sena pulled out another Pokéball. 

Rhodora scoffed, and threw out her Hawlucha. Sena took a steadying breath, and threw out Petey. The little spider Pokémon nodded at him determinedly, turning around to face off Rhodora’s Hawlucha. 

“That little Joltik’s gonna get crushed, Leader Sena.” Rhodora spat, thrusting her fist out at the Hawlucha. “Acrobatics!” The Hawlucha cawed powerfully, shooting up into the air. 

“Petey, Electroweb!” Sena called, and Rhodora grinned as the little spider held its ground, building a web of electricity on top of it. “Aim carefully!”

“_Aim?_” Rhodora scoffed. “There is no _ aim._”

The Hawlucha crashed into the ground, the Electroweb wrapping around its body. It let out a cry as the electricity ran through it, but its claws dug into the ground, sending earth flying up into the air. Petey came flying out from the rubble, clinging onto a rock as it flew, and Sena lit up, nodding in approval.

“_What?_” Rhodora gasped.

“Petey’s so tiny, he can take just one step aside and make the Hawlucha miss.” Sena grinned. “Now, Volt Switch!” 

The little spider jumped up into the air, charging right at the Hawlucha. 

“Ugh!” Rhodora growled. “Rock Slide!” She shouted, and the Hawlucha slammed its foot down on the ground, summoning rocks into the air. With a swipe of its wing, the rocks flew at Petey, who jumped on each one, intently heading for the Hawlucha’s wing—

Sena’s eyes widened, when he realised Petey was heading for the Rocket Controller hidden in the Hawlucha’s flight feathers. 

“Change of plan!” He blurted out, “Petey, Bug Bite!” 

“What?” Rhodora frowned, as Petey latched onto the Hawlucha, and snapped the Rocket Controller in half with a powerful bite. Her eyes widened, and she glowered at Sena. Sena grinned in relief when the Hawlucha looked confused, shaking its head, before he threw Petey back, sending him halfway across the pitch. 

Sena’s grin disappeared. “_Petey!_”

The Joltik landed on the ground, and he waved his little arm at Sena to let him know he was alright. The blond looked at the Hawlucha, who finally got its bearings, staring at the Joltik in alarm. They seemed to be talking, he realised, and he saw Petey excitedly waving his arms at the other Pokémon—

And suddenly, it looked _ mad. _

Sena’s eyes widened, as the Hawlucha turned on its heel, and headed straight for Rhodora, an Acrobatics aimed right at her, and the young woman’s eyes widened. 

“What the—”

“Petey!” Sena shouted, and the Joltik ran out in front of the Hawlucha—

Taking the blow as he vibrated furiously. Sena’s eyes widened, as the two Pokémon dropped to the ground, the Hawlucha slumping over onto the ground. 

“_Hawlucha is unable to battle!_”

Sena ignored the announcer, and looked up at Rhodora, who was gaping at the little Joltik that saved her. She had her hand clutched over her heart, and she looked up to meet Sena’s gaze. 

“That…” She said faintly. “Wasn’t… Bug Bite.”

“It wasn’t.” Sena breathed, lighting up as Petey began to _ glow. _“Oh, shit!”

“_What’s this, folks? Could it be…!_” The announcer’s excited voice rang over their heads. “_Leader Sena’s Joltik is evolving!_”

Sena’s heart soared when he saw Petey’s glowing body morph into a larger one, and he felt tears prickling his eyes as a Galvantula stood in his Joltik’s place. Petey seemed to be beaming at him, and Sena laughed softly. 

“Oh, wow!” He laughed, as Petey scuttled over to him. He pulled the Galvantula into a hug. “Buddy, you evolved! Look at how handsome you are!” 

He peered over at Rhodora, who seemed visibly shaken as she put her Hawlucha back into its ball. The ball seemed to wiggle for a moment in her hand, and she looked _ terrified, _about ready to drop it, really, but it eventually stopped, and settled down. Rhodora uneasily dug into her pockets, shaking her head as she steeled herself. 

Sena looked back down at Petey, at his beat-up body, and sighed fondly. “You’re about to faint, buddy.”

Petey nodded. 

“Just one more move. Can you do it?” He asked softly, and he nodded. Sena smiled, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Thanks.”

He straightened up, and Petey went to stand in front of him, stanced up and ready, despite feeling on the verge of fainting. “Give us your best shot, Leader Rhodora.” He said boldly, and she scowled at him.

“Fine.” She scoffed, and threw out her Noivern. “Your team is dying, Leader Sena. And the ones I still have are at full health.”

Sena gave her a cheeky grin. “We’ll take our chances.”

She grit her teeth, growling. “Noivern, finish him.” She snarled, and Sena held his breath. “Flamethrower!” 

“Petey, Thunder!” Sena called. “Take it out with you!”

The Noivern roared, spreading its wings—and there it was again. The Rocket controller in the angle between its body and its wing. It spat out a column of fire, and Petey jumped up, spreading his arms at the sky, as a bolt of lightning shot down to slam into the Noivern. It let out an ear-splitting _ screech _as it swept its Flamethrower up, following Petey’s path, smacking right into the Galvantula.

Sena hissed through his teeth as Petey dropped to the ground, fainted.

“_It’s super effective!_” The announcer called, as Sena put Petey back into his ball. “_Galvantula is unable to battle!_”

“It’s even now.” Rhodora smirked, as her Noivern shook off the rest of the sparks that littered its body. 

“Even.” Sena scoffed, and threw out Busby. “Busby, Shadow Ball!” The Rotom chirped in acknowledgement, summoning a ball of energy from between its wings, and Rhodora smirked.

“Noivern, U-turn!” She ordered, and Sena’s eyes widened. The Noivern charged at Busby, slamming into him at full force. The force of it threw Busby back, but he didn’t seem to be too hurt by it. Still, Rhodora didn’t seem to mind, as Noivern went back to her. “Go! Braviary!” 

“_Oh! It’s Leader Rhodora’s Braviary! The dark-horse favourite!_”

Sena bit his lip. “Damn.” He shook his head. “Well, we’ll find a way around this. Busby, Will-o-Wisp!”

“Tank through it, Braviary!” Rhodora snapped, “And _ crush _that Rotom with Shadow Claw!”

“_Fuck!_” Sena shook his head. That was right—the Braviary had been the one with the impossible Shadow Claw. “Back it up, Busby! Volt Switch! And _ be careful!_”

The Rotom zipped in a zigzag route around the Braviary, which struggled to turn around and find the tiny Pokémon as it zipped around it. Quickly, Busby made it to the Braviary’s nape, and crashed into it, _ hard, _ cloaked in electric energy. The Braviary cawed in pain, crumpling to the ground as Busby went back to Sena, and the blond grit his teeth. 

“Barry, go!” He shouted, sending out his Vikavolt. “We’re nearly there!” 

“Not by a mile!” Rhodora snapped, as her Braviary struggled to get back on its feet. “We’re not done yet!”

“_Leader Rhodora’s tanky Braviary shows us what endurance means!_” The announcer cheered. 

“Squash that bug with Brave Bird!” She roared, as the Braviary shot up into the air with a powerful cry. 

“Barry! Agility!” Sena called, and the Vikavolt held still, concentrating as the Braviary flew high up above their heads, and began to descend at breakneck speed. “_Dodge, now!_”

The Vikavolt darted aside just as the Braviary descended on him, whirling around and looking at Sena expectantly. 

“Do it!” He nodded, grinning as one of his oldest friends let out a devastatingly bright Flash Cannon right at the Braviary. It dropped down to the ground, and Sena let out a sigh of relief—but he tensed up again when he saw Rhodora smirk.

“I’ve got you right where I want you.” She chuckled darkly. “_Rock Slide!_”

“No!” Sena gasped, as the Braviary forced itself to get up, kicking up rocks from the ground and hurling them at Barry. “Barry, get outta there!”

The Vikavolt darted away as best as he could, but one of the rocks caught him by the wing, and he dropped to the ground with a loud thud. The crowd above them exploded into cheers, as Sena bit his lip, his mind racing as he scrambled to come up with a solution. His eyes widened when he saw Barry weakly turn around, aiming his horns at the Braviary.

“Oh…” Sena breathed, and understood. “Do it!”

“Finish it off with another Rock Slide!” Rhodora screamed.

Barry fired another Flash Cannon, burning through the rocks the Braviary threw at him, hitting the Braviary square in the chest. It fell back, unconscious, and Sena let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding—

When one stray rock managed to get past Barry’s Flash Cannon, and hit him, _ hard. _

Barry fainted, and Sena deflated, shaking his head in awe as he sent Barry back to his ball.

“_Braviary and Vikavolt are unable to battle!_” The crowd was almost _ deafening _ above them, and Sena panted heavily, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he felt sweat trickling down the back of his neck. “_Both Leaders are down to their last two Pokémon! What a close battle, folks!_”

Sena laughed tiredly, petting Sunny on his shoulder as he steadied himself. Rhodora flexed her shoulders, smirking at Sena. 

“It’s now or never.” Sena murmured, pressing a kiss to Busby’s Luxury Ball. “Let’s go!” 

He threw Busby out onto the field, and Rhodora threw out her Noivern again. 

“It ends _now!_” Rhodora screamed. “_Draco Meteor!_”

Sena’s eyes widened. Now _ that _was new. There was no way her Noivern could have learned that move so quickly, but he reeled himself in, grinning as he felt a surge of confidence in him. Busby looked at him, grinning cheekily, as the Noivern reared up, summoning meteors from the sky.

“You asked for it!” He laughed, “Busby, _ Light Screen!_”

Rhodora’s eyes widened. “Wait—_no!_”

A shield of light appeared around Busby as the meteors struck, and the Noivern landed heavily on the ground, tired out from the attack. 

“Let’s end it!” Sena barked. “Shadow Ball!”

Busby shot out a ball of energy from between its wings at breakneck speed, hitting the Noivern square in the chest. It dropped down to the ground, groaning softly as it stayed lying down. The dust settled around them, and Sena grinned, panting heavily as Dan lifted his arm.

“_Noivern is unable to battle! Leader Rhodora is down to her last Pokémon!_”

Rhodora put her Noivern back into its ball, her expression at Sena positively _ murderous _as she pulled out her last ball. Sena gave her a tired little grin, and he looked at Sunny.

“It’s your turn again, girl.” He said softly, putting an exhausted Busby back into his ball, and he pressed it against his heart as Sunny leapt off his shoulder to stand on the pitch. “Let’s put an end to this.”

“You’ll be sorry.” Rhodora snarled, and threw out a Butterfree. Sena grinned at her, cocking his head. 

“You’ve yet to prove that.” He said, and held out Sunny’s ball. “Let’s give the audience the show they want.”

Rhodora scoffed, and held out her Butterfree’s ball, as well. “Fine.” She bit out.

“_Oh! There it is!_”

“Gigantamax!” Sena and Rhodora called out at the same time, and the two Pokémon on the field went back to their Pokéballs. 

Dynamax energy surged from their wristbands, and their Pokéballs expanded. Sena twirled once, and tossed the ball out onto the pitch, following through the momentum of his throw into a showy bow, and the crowd went wild as Sunny emerged from the ball, magnifying three times into her Gigantamax form, her tail shooting up into the sky as a lightning bolt. 

Rhodora’s Butterfree magnified three times into a massive, glowing beast of a Pokémon, letting out a powerful cry as it spread its wings upwards toward the sky. 

“_Gigantamax time!_” The announcer called, as the crowd began to sing. “_Both trainers have just three moves to end the battle with a Dynamax battle!_”

“Then let’s end it!” Rhodora growled. “Butterfree, G-Max Befuddle!”

Sena’s eyes widened, and remembered what that meant for Sunny. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Burn all the bugs down, Sunny! G-Max Volt Crash!”

Butterfree reared up, spreading her wings wide, and thousands of shards of poison scales in the shape of fluttering bugs came charging at Sunny. Sunny held her ground, and jumped up, head up to the sky with a powerful cry. She crashed onto the ground with a powerful earthquake as five bolts of lightning struck the fluttering scales, the shock of her landing blowing them backwards towards the Butterfree. Rhodora growled, as Sunny got back up onto her feet. 

“Max Mindstorm!” She ordered. 

“Sunny, do it again!” Sena called, and Sunny jumped up, crashing onto the ground with another powerful shockwave, summoning yet another five bolts of lightning to rain down on the Butterfree. The Butterfree’s psychic attack surged over her, and she winced, holding her ground and digging her paws into the ground to keep herself upright. The lightning hit their target, though, and Butterfree dropped to the ground with a pained cry. 

Sunny shakily got up onto her feet, and Sena bit his lip.

“This is it,” he said, taking a deep breath.

“_Fuck!_” Rhodora growled. “Max Wall!”

Butterfree shielded herself with her wings feebly, but no wall appeared. Sena grinned, and nodded.

“She’s paralyzed, Sunny! Let’s end this—Max Overgrowth!” Sena shouted, feeling his heart soar as Sunny slammed her tail onto the ground with the last of her strength, as vines shot up from the ground, wrapping around the Butterfree from under her wings. The butterfly Pokémon struggled in panic, but the vines wrapped tighter around her, until she fell still, twitching weakly. She let out a pitiful-sounding cry, and began to shrink. 

Sena’s eyes widened, his joy overflowing from his heart and spilling from his eyes as he watched the massive Butterfree shrink, remaining still on the ground, save for the occasional twitch. Rhodora dropped to her knees, eyes wide in shock as Sunny shrank to her normal size, rushing towards her trainer in delight as Busby popped out of his Pokéball, cuddling into Sena’s side, too. Sena caught Sunny as she leapt at him, and he spun around, laughing happily as he held his Rotom close to his cheek, and his Pikachu close to his heart.

“_Butterfree is unable to battle! Leader Sena wins!_”

“I won!” He sobbed, dropping to his knees as the crowd above him cheered. Sena could feel his cheeks burning, but his tears couldn’t stop as he hugged his Pokémon close, burying his face into Sunny’s soft, warm belly. 

“_We did it!_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > oh! the sea between us has hit 100k words ! [pic.twitter.com/YmzPlhcwfT](https://t.co/YmzPlhcwfT)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 13, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1260551644749524992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> let me know if you know why sena's jersey number is 26!
> 
> quarantine is taking such a terrible toll on me but whatever. stay indoors lads


	21. Rocket Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Prepare for trouble, and now you’ll be sorry!”
> 
> “And make it double, we’re interrupting the party!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > the struggle of a height difference ship really is just being really difficult to crop huh [pic.twitter.com/gVVi8w1cFY](https://t.co/gVVi8w1cFY)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 16, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1261457546893684737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> anipoke fed us really well..... i miss satogou already...... gou my sweet boy i love you... i miss you..... i hope satoshi notices your baby's first gay crush someday....
> 
> anyway! i've been juggling [acnh and sword](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1261843507607597057?s=20) at the same time, and i have not been maximising my type effectiveness, evidenced by the fact i rolled up to the opal's place with [a goddamn vibrava with an eviolite strapped to it](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262009031985528832?s=20). <strike>spoilers: i won, somehow.</strike>
> 
> i just beat gordie today, [with](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262727686897557504?s=20) [interesting](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262728743514107904?s=20) ([horny](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262733265149890560?s=20)) [results](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262733798828982272?s=20). 
> 
> this is the most elaborate beginning note i've ever written.

“He sure cleans up nicely, doesn’t he?” 

Leon almost dropped his flute of champagne, laughing softly when he turned to see the little Champion smiling at him, raising their own glass of orange juice. They were in a familiar-looking three piece jumpsuit, Hop’s blazer on top of it. Leon rolled his eyes at them, and they snickered, before gesturing at Sena, who was currently the man of the hour, laughing sheepishly as he was surrounded by the other Gym Leaders of the Major League, half-leaning against his Uncle Kabu in embarrassment as they flocked to him. 

He was dressed in a soft yellow three-piece suit, complete with a fashionable top hat and a cane. His undershirt had a high collar that perfectly framed a tied Prussian blue cravat that was pinned with a yellow diamond-shaped crystal on a delicate golden chain. Under the coat was a silk waistcoat with a more saturated sunray, which was half-covered with an underbust corset the same shade. His trousers were a shade darker than his coat, and Leon could tell the suit was well-tailored—Sena’s coat bodice was lined with rich blue lines that accented the long plane of his body, the same colour as the ribbon of his yellow top hat. Sena definitely dressed very well, Leon realised. His stylist would _ love _him. He was even in high-heeled Derby shoes, and Leon whistled lowly. 

“Fancy boy.” He said, and the Champion giggled. 

“Isn’t he?” They agreed, and took a sip of their drink. “I’m glad it all worked out in the end.” 

And indeed it did. After Sena’s victory, Rhodora and Sena returned to their respective waiting rooms—and Rhodora was promptly arrested by Warwick Yard officers waiting for her there. Each one of her Pokémon were rescued, and tagged and identified, and were swiftly sent to the nearest Pokémon Centre to get their Rocket Controllers removed. Soon, they would be sent back to their respective trainers.

All’s well that ends well, they supposed.

“Me too.” Leon sighed, shaking his head. “Detective Robin’s taken in Leader Rhodora, we’ve stopped Team Rocket, I think tonight will go just fine.” He took a swig of his drink, and the brunet beside him nodded sagely. “But.”

“But?” The brunette hummed.

Leon frowned. “I can’t help but feel like something terrible is about to happen.” 

The little Champion frowned. “That’s not good.” 

“I know.” Leon sighed. “I don’t want to ruin the evening, either. Look at them.”

They looked back at Sena, who was positively _ glowing _with joy. Beside him, Kabu looked happy, too, and Leon smiled fondly at him. 

“Even Kabu’s happy. I don’t want to ruin that.” He said, and the little Champion patted his arm. “Gloria, I just… what if something bad happens? I’ve already had a few officers stationed outside the ballroom, but…”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” They asked. “You’ve already apprehended Team Rocket.” They gestured at the ballroom they were in—the Rose of the Rondelands was beautifully decked out in decadent gold, and Leon frowned. “You can’t be sure they’re _ here, _in this hotel, at this invite-only party?”

“They’re like rats.” Leon growled, shaking his head. “They won’t go away that easily.”

The little Champion frowned, and nodded. “Okay, I’ll take a perimeter walk.” They said, and Leon blinked at them. “And don’t worry, I’ll bring Marnie along. She needed to recharge after being around so many people in the ballroom, I know she’s outside. She could use the fresh air.”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, and the little Champion gave him a mock salute. “Take care, you two.”

“Will do.” They replied, and strode off. Leon stood awkwardly in his place, looking around and spotting familiar faces in the crowd. CEO’s and COO’s of different Galarian companies, peering at Sena with a curiosity that Leon had only recently begun to tolerate. 

Scouting for a potential sponsorship deal, no doubt. Leon thought drily. Sena _ was _quite the crowd favourite, too, he’d no doubt be a good target for a sponsorship deal. He could even see some Macro Cosmos constituent COO’s steadily making their approach, and Leon looked away, feeling the onset of a headache.

No, he knew Kabu would ward the crocodiles off on his nephew’s night of stardom. He could trust that Kabu would not let Sena’s night get ruined by _ business deals. _

Leon huffed, making his way to a table to pick up a hors d'oeuvres from a plate. He was never a big fan of galas, _ especially _ when he didn’t have Raihan by his side. When he was Champion, Rose had a habit of dolling him up and bringing him along to seemingly every event under the sun, but now as his own man, Leon wanted to stay away from those kinds of events as much as possible. Of course, as League Chairman, this was one afterparty he _ had _to attend, and Ricki didn’t have to insist for him to attend, either. 

It was because of his stylist’s insistence that Leon changed out of Raihan’s suit and into a fresh one for the evening—it fit him like a glove, as always. Raihan always did insist on making sure their suits were always perfectly tailored, much to Leon’s embarrassment and to the delight of their stylist. While he _ did _ enjoy wearing Raihan’s suit earlier that evening, he _ did _run around Wyndon Stadium in it, and it was wrinkled beyond any salvation of a quick-fix. Instead, his stylist brought him a different formal suit—it wasn’t that far a departure from his usual suit as MC Chairman, with the same red shade tailcoat and a similar cravat, but he had a black underbust corset on top of his white undershirt. The corset had been Raihan’s choice, and it showed—it had beautiful embroidered gold details of morning glory vines that wound around him in the same pattern as the detail on his tailcoat’s cuffs and lapels. 

He did keep Raihan’s earring on him—the same one he’d used to pin down his cravat earlier, pinning his new cravat down now. Another golden chain adorned with rubies hung from a dragon-shaped cuff on the shell of his ear. His hair was in a braid with gold flower accessories woven in, and the tie holding his hair secure was blue—just like the colour of Raihan’s eyes. 

Leon’s feet had yet to kill him, thank Arceus, but he was starting to feel the beginnings of a pinch. They’d changed his shoes out, too—new boots with higher heels than most of his shoes. 

Great, he thought bitterly. This night was going to be _ fantastic. _

Well, he _ had _ finished his Chairman's duties—he’d given his congratulatory speech, handed Sena his medal and the finished Gym badge for the Electric-type Gym for the Major and Minor Leagues. By all accounts, Leon _ could _leave, but he wasn’t about to, not when the threat of Team Rocket was still looming over his shoulder like a nightmare that wouldn’t quite go away. 

Leon grumbled, and finished his champagne. “I hate this.” He mumbled, and jumped when he realised that someone had come up to stand beside him. He turned to see—oh,_ fuck, _of all the people he had to see—Lord Narcissus next to him, demurely sipping his own flute of champagne. 

“Chairman.” The man greeted politely.

Who the _ fuck _invited this asshole, Leon thought. “Lord Narcissus.” He said tartly instead as he straightened up. 

“It’s wonderful to see you again.” He said, “Why, I’m surprised to see you so harangued. The ranking tournament went quite smoothly, not a single member of the public seems to have noticed anything out of the norm.”

“Well, that just means we did a great job running the tournament.” Leon replied. _ Ugh, _of all the people, he thought bitterly, and peered at his champagne flute, which was about a gulp away from becoming empty. So much for a welcome distraction. 

“That’s certainly true.” Narcissus nodded once, and offered his hand for Leon to take. “When you finish that, would you mind a dance?”

Who still _ asked _for that? Leon scowled inwardly, but reluctantly finished his drink, handing it to a passing waiter as Narcissus did the same. He took the man’s hand, and reluctantly allowed him to lead Leon to the dance floor, where other party goers had gathered as well. 

“I’d love to hear more from you about my _ dear _nephew. Surely you’ve talked this past week he’s been gone? I could hardly find the time of day to hear from him, myself.” He said pleasantly, as they found a place at the dance floor. 

Leon glanced longingly at the door, hoping to see the little Champion and Marnie there to save him, but of course, unlike that fateful night atop Hammerlocke, the brunet was not there to save him. He _ really _ didn’t want to stay long with him—inevitably, he’ll be seen dancing with his boyfriend’s uncle, and two things were sure to come out of it: one, that people will _ talk _about it. He didn’t know exactly what they’d be saying—and, frankly, he could care less these days, thanks to Raihan’s influence—but an uneasy feeling sat in his gut. With Raihan gone, Leon will have to bear the scrutiny of the rest of Galar on his own. Eyes on two will focus on one, and Leon will have no choice but to weather the storm alone. 

They gave each other a courteous, socially distant bow when they took their places at the dance floor. Leon didn’t even give Narcissus the satisfaction of looking annoyed at the man’s decidedly much more showy bow than his. 

“Nothing’s out of the ordinary, really.” Leon said as they straightened up, and he inwardly winced as Narcissus put his hand on his waist, and the other on his shoulder. Still, he wasn’t about to take this sitting down—he put his hand on Narcissus’s waist, and pulled his hand from his shoulder to hold it. He relished the look of surprise from the older man as Leon resolutely kept his gaze away from him. “He’s been training well, things have been peaceful, unlike before.” He looked at the man pointedly, and the perfect facade of Narcissus’s placid expression cracked slightly. 

Ooh, he was getting Raihan’s testy little tongue around his insufferable uncle. Fantastic.

“I’ll be hearing from him again tomorrow morning, though.” He forced himself to sound a little more cheerful. “So I’m looking forward to that.”

“I’m sure it must be lonely.” Narcissus said, as the music began, and the both of them settled into a waltz. “How could my nephew simply leave you all alone like this, and for a whole _ year? _The dragons of Hammerlocke were not taught to leave their roosts, I’ll tell you that.”

Leon gave him a withering look as Narcissus twirled him, his braid sliding off his shoulder to rest behind his back. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want him to give up on his lifelong dream.” Leon replied. “If anything, I’m really supportive of his decision to leave. I’ve always wanted to see him achieve his dreams, Lord Narcissus. It’s the least I can do as his partner.”

_ Fuck, _Leon inwardly swore as Narcissus raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Partner?” The blond echoed, and dipped Leon. “My, my. Are the rumours true, then? Has he really asked for your hand in marriage?”

“I didn’t take you as someone who listens to rumour mills, milord.” Leon bit out, squeezing the man’s forearm when Narcissus held him down there for a little longer than socially acceptable, and the man lifted him again. “And no, they’re not true. There was no engagement.”

“But you intend for it?” Narcissus grinned, glancing at their joined hands, and Leon couldn’t help the blush that crossed his face. 

“Only if Raihan wants to.” He replied. Safe enough an answer, not exactly a lie that he could never back up. Jeez, he never could _ truly _lie to people, not about these kinds of things—not even those he didn’t like very much.

(There was only one person he ever managed to lie to. Leon didn’t like thinking about him, though.)

“Oh, he just does whatever he wants to, doesn’t he?” Narcissus’s smirk disappeared from view as Leon twirled him this time, and Leon took a moment to scowl at the insufferable man before he turned back around. Leon schooled his expression, and shrugged. “Even with you. Don’t you get tired of it?”

“Never.” Leon replied easily. “In fact, that’s part of why I like Raihan so much.” He gave the man a triumphant smirk, and Narcissus, at least, had enough social grace not to show Leon what he thought of that. “I wouldn’t want him to change for the world.”

“Must be nice.” Narcissus replied flatly. 

Leon was dimly aware of the fact that there were Rotom Phones pointed in their direction. Cameras, clicking away as the Chairman of Macro Cosmos and one of the members of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Galar danced together a week after Raihan left.

The resulting talk could be either in his favour, or against it—on one hand, people might think it was sweet that he was close with his boyfriend’s family members. On the other, the less savoury talk of Leon being unfaithful or even a simple social climber could put a damper on his mood for the rest of the week. 

“As nice as it gets.” He said honestly, and pulled away from Narcissus when the music ebbed away. “Thank you for the dance, Lord Narcissus.” He said, pulling away from him immediately, and the man peered at him placidly. Leon made the first move to leave, when the man grabbed him by the wrist. 

“Leon—” He began, when the lights suddenly died.

Shouts of alarm rang through the air, and Leon jerked his wrist away from Narcissus in shock, moving quickly to pull Red’s Pokéball out of his pocket. 

“What the hell is going on?” He demanded, releasing Red, who flew up into the air with a loud roar. Leon ran away from Narcissus to an open space on the ballroom floor where Red landed, looking around attentively as he swung his tail around, helping his trainer see. Leon could hear other Pokémon being released—Gordie’s Coalossal was the loudest of the lot, but he exuded the most light from the coals on his back. Leon hurried over to the Gym Leaders—and Sonia, who was desperately clinging onto her girlfriend as Nessa tried to look stoic, frozen into place with her hand on her Drednaw Stapler’s horn. 

“Is everyone alright?” Leon asked, and they nodded. “That’s good. Where’s Gloria?”

“Oh, Victor?” Piers spoke up. “Last time I checked, they headed outside with Marnie.”

“Could you call Marnie, and have her call Warwick Yard?” Leon asked, biting his lip. “We have to get the power on, _ now. _ I _ knew _something was going to—”

“Thunderbolt!” Sena’s voice called, and they all stopped, when they saw Sena’s Vikavolt fly up towards the chandelier, lighting it up for a brilliant moment, letting all the people in the room see three figures on the stage set up in front of the ballroom. Leon’s eyes widened, as Charizard stanced up, standing between his trainer and the three figures on stage. 

“Who the hell are they?” Gordie exclaimed. 

“Prepare for trouble, and now you’ll be sorry!” Said the woman on the side, her long red hair flowing in a breeze where no one could tell was coming from.

“And make it double, we’re interrupting the party!” Continued her blue-haired partner, extending his arm out at the crowd. 

“To protect the world from devastation!” The woman said, striking a pose.

(Sena’s soft “Oh! Flashy!” went largely ignored.)

“To unite all people within our nation!” Her partner continued, striking another pose.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” They joined hands, and twirled elegantly on the stage.

(Again, Sena’s soft applause went largely ignored.)

“To extend our reach to the stars above!” The duo ended with the woman dipping the man. 

“Jessie!” Said the redhead, striking another pose.

“James!” Her partner crooned, striking a pose that matched her own. 

“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!” Jessie said.

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!” James grinned, and a Meowth jumped up between them, standing on top of them like a human (and Pokémon?) pyramid. 

“Meowth, that’s right!” He winked, and flashed his claws. 

“_Team Rocket?_” Leon’s eyes widened. “I _ knew _something was going to go wrong tonight!”

“That’s right, king champ! And we’re here to take all ya’ Pokémon, _ minus _ that weird controller biz!” The Meowth crowd proudly, and much to the shock of all the people in the room, the doors were barred shut. The chandelier sparked violently, and Sena’s Vikavolt shot away from it, plunging the room into darkness, save for a spotlight on the Team Rocket trio on the stage. The chandelier crashed to the ground, and the crowd of guests all screamed in horror as Sena’s Vikavolt hovered in front of Sena protectively, buzzing angrily. “An’ all them prize-winning, fancy Pokémon are _ ours!_”

“Absolutely not!” Bea snapped, “Machamp, use Cross Chop on that talking Meowth!”

“Whoa!” The Meowth screamed, as her Machamp charged forward towards them, and his human companions jumped out of the limelight disappearing into the dark only to throw out smoke bombs, filling the room with dense smoke. Leon coughed, covering his face with his arm as he watched the Meowth dart out of the way of Bea’s Machamp, only to throw a device at her. 

“Bea!” He warned, and she came shooting in right in time, smacking the box aside with her fist, but it bounced off the ground and wrapped around Milo’s Eldegoss. 

“_Shit!_” She gasped, as Milo jumped in alarm. 

“Bea? Are you—_Glossums!_” He gasped. He dropped to his knees, looking at the device trapping his Eldegoss, when suddenly a sweet scent filled the air. He lifted his head, and looked at Leon in alarm. “Leon, that’s—”

“Incense?” Leon muttered, but his eyes widened when he could see the silhouettes of different Pokémon heading towards the source of it. “Hey, wait—_hold on!_”

The lights suddenly came on, and Leon finally caught a glimpse of a little Trapinch with a Pokémon Incense strapped to its back in the middle of the ballroom. All of the Pokémon in the area crowded around it—

And suddenly, a cage sprouted from underneath the Trapinch, trapping all the Pokémon inside. Leon’s heart shot to his throat when he saw Red trapped inside the cage, too, looking just as shocked as his trainer was, and began to beat at the bars as the Team Rocket grunts showed up again at the stage, looking rather pleased with themselves. 

“Quick and painless!” Jessie scoffed, “And without a single Controller, too!”

“_No controllers?_” Gordie shot at them. “Just _ whose _ side are you _ on?_”

“Why, our leader, of course!” James replied, pulling out a launcher from behind him. “We deliver our Pokémon right to the boss, scratch free!” 

Leon’s brow furrowed. “So there’s different Team Rocket groups all working towards the same goal…” He murmured, “That’s… that makes things harder.” 

“Don’t you put us in that Elsie’s league!” Jessie blew him a raspberry. “We’re the _ professionals_, after all!” 

“Now, it’s time for us to scram!” James beamed, and launched a hook at the cage. “Later, fancy schmucks!” The hook caught on to a divot in the cage, and a large explosion shook the ballroom. Rubble flew everywhere, and Achilles popped out of his ball from Leon’s belt to shield his trainer from falling debris, and the next thing they knew, the three Team Rocket grunts were gone, the cage hanging from a Kantonian Meowth-shaped hot air balloon in the sky. 

“Damn it!” Leon cursed, shaking his head as Achilles turned to look at him worriedly. “Red…” He breathed, shaking his head. “We’ve got to save them.” He said, putting Achilles back into his Pokéball.

“Can’t be that hard to miss.” Nessa said angrily. “Stapler’s gone. I want him back.”

“I managed to hold on to Glossums…” Milo said with a sigh from where he was kneeling, holding onto his wiggling Eldegoss. “Is anyone hurt?”

Leon looked around, deflating slightly as he saw Piers and Gordie looking rather miserable, both looking like they’d been run over by their Pokémon partners in the rush. Bede looked downright _ murderous, _ holding on to a little tuft of pink-blue hairs from his Hatterene. Melony was off to the side, gently waving her handkerchief in front of Kabu, who was coughing into his fist. Sena stood beside him, worried and haggard, holding his Pikachu close to his chest—he must have brought her out, Leon realised. 

“Kabu.” He said, jogging over to Kabu, half-mindful of the fact that Warwick Yard officers began streaming into the ballroom. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Kabu said, shaking his head, and Sena bit his lip.

“Uncle Kabu took the brunt of the smoke headed for me.” He said quietly, and Leon looked at the blond, his expression softening at him. “Said my Alola lungs weren’t built for that… like as if his old man lungs could handle it, either.”

“I—” Kabu coughed again, “Have lived in—_ugh_—Lavaridge Town longer than you have, Sena.”

“Doesn’t change the fact you protected me.” Sena said, and looked up at Leon. “We need to get the Pokémon back. Softer version of Team Rocket or no, they’re still thieves.” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.” Leon said, and jumped when he heard Bea’s voice behind him.

“Allister?” She called, “Allister! Allister, where are you?” 

Leon turned around, his eyes widening at Bea barely holding herself together, and he hurried towards her, holding her shoulders to ground her. “Bea? What’s wrong?”

“A-Allister,” She said, “He’s—he’s not here. Leon, he’s—he’s gone, just like my Machamp—”

“Bea, calm down.” Leon said firmly, “I’ll go after them, I promise.” She blinked at him, and he looked up from her to see the little Champion and Marnie hurrying towards them. “Gloria.”

“We gotta go, we gotta go.” They said, jerking their head at Leon. “C’mon, with me.”

He nodded, and he patted Bea’s shoulders reassuringly first, before hurrying out the hole Team Rocket made after them. 

“Wait!” Leon heard Sena call, and he slowed down long enough to see the blond running after him, a Luxury Ball in his hands. “I’m coming with.”

The little Champion raised an eyebrow at him, and Sena gave them a withering smile. “Thought it’d be fitting, since I’m not exactly under investigation, nor do I need medical help.” He said, and held up his Rotom’s Pokéball. “Figured I could help out here.”

Leon shook his head. “No, Sena. Stay here. Your uncle needs you more than we do.” He squeezed Sena’s shoulder, and looked down at him intently. “I hope you understand.”

He could see the flush on Sena’s tan cheeks, even in the dark. “R-right. Okay, Mr. Chairman.”

“Thanks.” Leon smiled at him, and nodded for him to go. Sena jogged back into the ballroom, and the little Champion huffed fondly, shaking their head as they crossed their arms.

“You know he likes you.” They said, and Leon nodded sheepishly. “Wow. Never thought I’d see the day Mr. Chairman Leon used someone’s feelings for him to his advantage.”

“It’s not _ to my advantage, _ Gloria. It’s for _ his _sake, more than mine.”

“Right, right.” The brunet nodded, shaking their head. They pulled out a Pokéball from under their blazer, and looked up at Leon. “I’m going to take out Eternatus. Are you gonna be okay?”

“I—” Leon hesitated for a moment, and smiled weakly. “I think so, yeah.” They raised an eyebrow at him, and he nodded. “Yeah. Lay it on me.”

“If you insist.” They said, and deployed the massive—well, _ not so massive _dragon in front of them. Leon blinked at the size of Eternatus—now somewhere closer to an oversized Gyarados, perhaps, and the little Champion grinned up at him. “We’ve figured out how to make it smaller.” They elbowed him lightly. “Makes it easier on you.” 

“I… thanks.” Leon breathed, smiling softly as he looked up at the Pokémon, who was looking at them with curiosity. He reached up towards Eternatus’s head, and it lowered its head, ready to accept Leon’s hand, but he stopped short of the dragon’s shimmering scales. Eternatus looked a little saddened by that, and the little Champion nodded knowingly, petting its side. 

“Baby steps, Mr. Chairman.” They said, and got onto its back. “Got a way to come with?”

“Y-yeah.” Leon nodded, and released Achilles from his ball. “Let’s go, Achilles. Just like how Mr. Dan does it.”

Achilles bobbed in acknowledgement, and Leon got onto his hands from behind him. He looked up at the little Champion, who nodded. 

“Let’s go. I got a tracker on them on my phone.” They said, and Leon whistled. “What can I say? Hop says I’ve got a helluvan arm.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Leon said, and nodded for Achilles to take him into the air. The brunet burst out laughing, and together, they shot out into the night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > this is so interesting to me... going by this logic, they battle regularly to determine strength... [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/Oni0z9eThK](https://t.co/Oni0z9eThK)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 14, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1260951568045629440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> the game really said the sea between us rights ! by the way, if you're curious about some more worldbuilding that isn't included in the story, take a look [here](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1262576807154290688?s=20)!
> 
> GOD i had so much fun writing the team rocket rhyme. i could not stop gigglinggggg!!! i love jessie james and meowth!!!!


	22. Ghost Typing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "When you’re in a locked room with a Galarian Gym Leader, they’re not trapped in there with you.”
> 
> “_You’re_ trapped in there with _them._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > raihan is massive, actually, i just have the memory of a goldfish [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/u72DnDHjXf](https://t.co/u72DnDHjXf)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1264893824129658883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> sometimes anipoke likes [socking me in the gut](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1264890308371701761?s=20) and i say thank you always. speaking of which, the english dub? [gou is so gay](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1264889850123022337?s=20). i love this boy.
> 
> **CONTENT WARNING**: there is animal injury. leon will have a breakdown, but will get help get through it.
> 
> this one's for the allister stans. sorry for all the headcanons. he's a lovely spooky boy.

Allister was known to most as the Ghost-type Gym Leader, who shared his Gym with his adoptive sister, Bea, and switched every other competitive season. 

What _ wasn’t _ known to most was that Allister was _ older _than 19-year-old Bea, and if anyone took the time to read the fine print of things, Allister has been the Gym Leader of Stow-On-Side for nothing short of a decade. 

Yet he retained his youthful features, despite a decade of supposed growth. If anyone had to hazard a guess, Allister would have been around Raihan’s age now, if that was the case, but there was something keeping the mysterious little boy who frequently hid behind Bea suspended in time forever.

Allister was unlike most of the boys his age, because—

“Is the coast clear, Gengar?” He asked softly, and the ghost Pokémon nodded, peering at Red, who was busy trying to reassure the other Pokémon with them in the cage. 

“Will you really make it through?” Gengar asked, a voice ringing in his head, and Allister nodded, reaching for the bars. Bea’s Machamp’s hand shot out to grab his wrist, and he looked up at her, slowly taking his mask off. “_Machamp._” 

“It’s okay. I know you’re worried.” Allister said, “But don’t forget, I’m just like you.”

The Machamp looked dubious, but the boy gave her a smile, and patted her hand. Gently, she let him go, and his Gengar watched as he approached the bars. 

“I couldn’t get through.” He reminded him.

“Well, _ you’re _not half Normal-type, are you?” Allister asked, and inspected the cage bars, which did a good enough job holding that new Gym Leader’s Vikavolt in, or some partygoer’s Vulpix. He nodded to himself, and slipped between a pair of bars, through a space far smaller than he was.

The Pokémon tittered in stunned shock. 

Yes, Allister was quite unlike many little boys his age.

Allister had a secondary typing, and has been quite happily half-dead for a little over a decade now. 

“Made it!” He hissed, twirling on one foot and bowing like how he saw Leader Sena do, and Gengar clapped for him happily, while the Pokémon all tittered in excitement. “Okay, everyone! Stay quiet, now, I’ll go look for how to turn this thing off.” 

It had been a point of frustration for Bea that Allister refused to carry phones around—he didn’t need them, he’d told her, not when he had Gengar, and all the other Ghost-type Pokémon that could whisper in his head the way they all could whisper through each other. Now, he was gently reconsidering the prospect—he supposed having a phone at a time like this _ would _be a good thing, after all—it seemed Team Rocket figured out how to catch Ghost-type Pokémon, and securely, too. He looked around at the dark place they were in, and realised they were in a warehouse. In the distance, he could hear the creak and groan of large, powerful tools, and he frowned. 

So they were at least still in Galar, within Flying Taxi distance, probably, and within a mine, or at least a place that processed materials derived from mines—the place smelled the same as the Galar Mines. He’d been wrapped up in Gengar the whole time they were flying—as a Ghost/Normal type human, Allister both obeyed and disobeyed the physics that governed the Team Rocket-patented cage, so he would have slipped right out of the cage as it flew across Galar airspace. That meant he had no way of knowing where they were, but he at least took comfort in the fact they couldn’t have gone out of Galar, and that they were—mostly—left alone inside a warehouse. 

Maybe it would be unwise to make things explode, he reasoned, and peered up at the cage. Maybe there would be a button up there? He wouldn’t be able to reach it…

He jumped when he heard the warehouse doors opening, and Gengar shot to the cage bars, his eyes wide. 

“Allister! Come back!” he hissed, and Allister nodded, sprinting back into the cage through the bars, and letting Gengar wrap himself around him protectively. Allister sighed in relief when he saw Leon’s Red stride in front of them, spreading his wings menacingly at the newcomers, while also hiding Allister hiding inside his Gengar. Bede’s Hatterene, Nessa’s Stapler, and Kabu’s disgruntled-looking Centiskorch also moved over to shield them, with Piers’s Obstagoon and Gordie’s Coalossal—Thomas (“or just Tom, really,” he’d said) the Tank Engine, as he’d been lovingly nicknamed by Gordie’s little siblings—bringing up the rear. Sena’s Vikavolt and Bea’s Machamp stayed beside Allister and Gengar, the Machamp’s expression tight and nervous as the rest of the Pokémon in the cage cowered behind them. 

Allister could hear voices beyond him—the two Team Rocket humans, the Meowth, and—

“Huh?” Allister murmured, cocking his head, and he crawled out from underneath his Gengar’s tubby belly to peer out at the newcomers from between Red’s legs. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped in shock.

“_Leader Rhodora?_” He hissed, but was pulled back into the safety of the space under Gengar’s belly just in time to hear her voice.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Jessie asked archly. “Look at you two, having to need to be bailed out from jail got right to your heads, did it?”

“Take that back!” an unfamiliar man’s voice said. “Where _ were _ you guys during the ranking tournament? I had to do all the dealing with the judges _ and _the controllers to the Gym Leaders! And I got found out for it!”

“Oh, shut up, Johnie, you probably ended up blabbering about everything to that _ Chairman Leon._” Rhodora snapped. 

“S-sorry, Elsie.”

Elsie. Was that her name? Her _ real _name? Allister clung onto Gengar worriedly, and he jumped when he felt a weak little nibble at his foot. He looked down to see the Trapinch from earlier, looking up at him with tearful eyes. Allister blinked down at the Pokémon as it wiggled its body weakly, and gently, he took the depleted Pokémon incense on its back and set it down on the ground as soundlessly as possible. 

He picked up the Trapinch—with some difficulty, _ oof, _ how did Raihan carry _ four _of these things so easily—and held it in his arms to calm it down. 

“Well, anyway, the two of you better scram,” James said, “We did all the heavy lifting, look!”

“Yeah! We got all of them Gym Leaders’ Pokémon, and without the stupid nut bolt thingy.” Meowth added. “See for yourself! We even got the king champ’s Charizard in there. Bet ya knuckleheads couldn’t have managed ‘at!” 

“_Chairman Leon’s _ Charizard?” The man—Johnie, he supposed—gasped, and Gengar held Allister closer as they heard footsteps rushing towards them. Allister held his breath and stayed as still as he could—which, honestly, wasn’t that difficult, but the other Pokémon aside from Gengar seemed to tense up with worry for him anyway. “_Whoa. _ He really _ is _here. That’s amazing.” 

Red snarled at him, and Allister heard the man spluttering in panic.

“Who let you losers out, anyway?” Jessie asked. “I thought for sure you two would just rot in there with the others.”

“Some hotshot in higher Galarian society, I don’t freakin’ know.” Elsie grumbled. “The Boss is gonna be really mad at us, we’ve lost all the Pokémon we were supposed to get from the Minor League leaders.”

“Not to mention Elsie didn’t get into the Major League.” Johnie sighed. “Guess buying out the Flying-type Gym was all moot, huh…”

“Not to mention the Gym in Derbyton…” Elsie huffed. “Well, we at least have all the Pokémon in the Circhester Quarantine Facility. Giovanni won’t get _ that _mad at us.”

“Aww, but Jessie and James have _ Champion Leon’s Charizard._” 

“Who the hell cares about some stupid Charizard?” Elsie snapped. “Well, _ whatever. _ Good job or whatever the hell it is you wanna hear. _ Happy?_”

“Immensely.” Jessie sneered.

“_Ugh._” Elsie scoffed, and they heard her shoes clacking on the ground as she approached the cage, uncaring much for Red and the other Pokémon’s angry growling at her. “So, how do you open this thing up anyway?” She asked, and Allister’s eyes widened. He looked up at Gengar, who nodded, and gingerly let Allister back down onto the ground. The boy crawled closer to Red, who adjusted his wings to make sure Allister stayed hidden. 

“There’s a release hatch in the back.” James said. “Bottom end of the middle bar. Don’t worry about them reaching out for it—you’d need opposable thumbs to get them.”

“Not to mention not even _ Ghost-types _can get through the bars.” Meowth said, “With the new patented Spook-Me-Not Tech—” 

“Huh. Well then, let’s see…” Elsie’s disinterested voice cut him off, and Allister could hear it coming from the other side of the cage. Carefully, Allister snuck out the back and through the bars again, quietly grateful that all that new tech _ still _didn’t put secondary-typed humans into consideration. 

_ Wouldn’t take them long now, _ he supposed. _ Now that Professor Sonia’s published something. _

He felt relief surge inside him when he saw a table behind the cage, and he quickly ducked underneath it just in time for Elsie to come around the back of the cage, inspecting the bars. 

He held his breath, tucking his legs in closer to himself. He could only see Elsie’s feet in front of him, but he could tell she was looking into the cage, humming thoughtfully at the other Pokémon hiding behind Red and the other Pokémon. 

“We’ve got some small fry in the back.” She said, “Probably the other partygoers’ Pokémon.” 

“Oh, right.” James hummed. “There were other people there—”

“What do you mean, _ we?_” Jessie snarled, and Allister suppressed his gasp of fear as the other woman stormed towards Elsie behind the cage, pressing his hand to his mouth desperately to keep himself from being heard. “Listen up, white-hairs, _ our _team caught all these Pokémon, even that Gengar!”

“_Can it_,” Elsie snarled, and went around the cage again to head towards them. Allister heaved a sigh of relief, shaking his head as he waited for her footsteps to grow quieter. He looked at Gengar, who was looking at him intently. 

“Open it.” He said in Allister’s head, “And we’ll take care of the rest.”

Allister nodded, his faith complete in his Gengar as he reached out for the cage—

“Oh!” Allister’s hand shot back under the table, his heart going a mile a minute at Johnie’s exclamation, and he realised that the man was looking out the window, and not under the table. “Guys! There’s something coming!”

“What?” Jessie snapped, and she ran past him to look up into the night sky. Allister shook his head. He had to go, _ now. _

He darted out from under the table, quickly undoing the latch, and the cage began to retract on itself, the bars sliding into each other until it was a flat barred grate on the ground. The Team Rocket grunts in front of them let out shouts of alarm and confusion as Gengar shot out to grab Allister, wrapping around him protectively as the other Pokémon shot out of the cage, explosions ringing around the place. 

Well, Allister thought, as he took steadying breaths in the cool embrace of Gengar’s fluff, at least if the building collapsed on them, he could phase right through it no problem.

* * *

“What the _ fuck!_” The little Champion’s shout shot Leon’s heart into his throat as he saw them jump in their seat. “Leon, look!”

They pointed down towards the spot the tracker led them to, and Leon’s eyes widened to see an abandoned Galar Mine warehouse currently falling apart. Another explosion shook the area, and Leon jolted. 

“We gotta go, we gotta go!” He barked, and looked at Achilles. “Buddy, I’m sorry. I gotta get on Eternatus.”

Achilles made a distressed sound, but Leon gave him a smile, and petted him gently. “Follow right after us, okay?” Achilles bobbed in understanding, and Leon took a steadying breath. He took a moment to compose himself, and leapt off his Aegislash—

And landed on Eternatus’s back, much to the little Champion’s surprise.

“Whoa!” They cheered, “Leon, that was _ badass!_”

“Gloria, please.” Leon said, his voice strained as he gripped one of Eternatus’s spines, white-knuckled. 

“R-right.” They nodded. “Keep up, Aegislash!” They called, and Eternatus dove towards the warehouse. They landed easily, the little Champion grabbing Leon’s hand to help him down from the dragon’s back to see that the captured Pokémon were set free, and wreaking havoc on the Team Rocket hideout, while four people were trapped in the corner, trapped by a growling Red, his wings outstretched. 

“Red!” Leon called, and the Charizard looked over his shoulder at his trainer. He lit up, and flew away from the Team Rocket grunts, groaning happily as he rubbed his cheek against Leon’s. “Oh, I’m so relieved you’re alright!”

“Leon!” He heard Allister call, and Leon jolted, jerking his head around to see the little boy rushing out from behind a container. 

“Allister?” He gasped, but suddenly one of the Team Rocket grunts grabbed him by the back of his collar, lifting him into the air with a disdainful look on her face. Leon’s expression hardened at her as she scowled at Allister. “Leader Rhodora—no.” He shook his head. “Elsie.”

“So _ this _little brat set all those Pokémon free.” She snarled, shaking him, and Leon held his hand out at her to stop her. “Nuh-uh, Mr. Chairman. You stand down right now, and order all these Pokémon to be quiet, or else.” She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a Rocket Controller. Leon’s eyes widened at that, and he held Red back, despite the Charizard’s angry growling. He also held the little Champion back beside him as they reached for their own Pokéball harness, frowning at Elsie. 

“Put him down.” He said carefully, the epitome of coolness, but his mind was racing. 

_ Fuck, _ could those controllers work for humans with secondary typing? Did Elsie know about Allister?

Allister’s Gengar looked _ furious _as he floated over to Red’s side, and Leon saw Red hold him back, too, growling angrily. 

“You don’t get to make the demands here, Mr. Chairman.” She smirked, and she jerked her head at her brother, who scurried to his feet. “Johnie, could you give the good Mr. Leon a Rocket Controller?” 

“What?” Leon breathed, as Johnie approached him gingerly, holding out a complete Rocket Controller to him. “What the hell is the meaning of this?”

“It’s simple.” Elsie said, “Why don’t _ you _do the honours and put it on Charizard yourself?”

“_What?_” The little Champion gasped. “_No way!_” They ran out in front of Leon, their expression fierce. “You _ know _ what those _ things _do to Pokémon!”

“I most certainly know.” Elsie said. “And I bet if I got one on that prize-winning Charizard, Team Rocket will be _ unstoppable._”

“The Pokémon _ die, _ Elsie.” Leon said sternly, and ignored Johnie’s proffered controller. “_That’s _what these controllers do.”

“Then we’ll just get another stupid Pokémon.” She said, “It’s not like—”

A loud _ thwack _reverberated through the room, and Leon jumped, jolting in alarm as he saw Elsie drop to the ground like a stone. Allister jumped from her grip, and hurried to Leon, hugging his midsection as the little Champion took their place between them and the Team Rocket grunts. The redhead woman—Jessie, she’d said, back in the ballroom—straightened up, scowling as she held up what looked like a—mercifully cool—curling iron. She looked at Leon, her expression fierce. 

“Ugh, I never liked her anyway.” She said, and turned to look at Johnie. “Are you going to drop that or not?” She raised the curling iron threateningly, and Johnie shook his head in a fit of panic, and dropped the controller. “Good.” She shook her head, lowering her curling iron as she looked at Leon. “I want to make things clear, king champ, we did _ not _ expect these _ losers _to be here.”

“Yeah.” James said, and Leon realised he was busy tying the unconscious Elsie up to a miraculously intact support beam. “And that we—well, at least, Jessie, Meowth and I—are in no way involved with this sort of tomfoolery.” James moved on to secure a slightly petulant, reluctant Johnie to the beam alongside his sister.

“Found it!” Meowth called, and Leon turned to see Meowth lugging along a bag of Rocket Controllers. The Pokémon tossed it at the little Champion’s feet with a huff, and jabbed a claw at it. “I neva’ wanna see that bag ever again!” 

“I…” Leon said hesitantly. “Why are you three doing this?” 

“Because it’s not right!” Jessie huffed, striding over to Leon, Allister and the little Champion. Allister clung onto Leon tighter, and the brunet tensed up, but all they got was Jessie’s hand to their face to shove them aside, as Jessie poked at Leon’s chest. “And that _ we’re _ professionals! This is _ not _how we steal Pokémon!”

“That’s not the Team Rocket way!” James nodded sagely, straightening up. 

“Wobbuffet!” a Wobbuffet cheered as he popped out of a ball on Jessie’s belt. 

“We can’t offer damaged goods to the boss, after all.” Meowth nodded in agreement, and Leon and the little Champion shared bewildered looks. “So screw it, here they all are.”

“For now, let’s call it quits on nabbing your Pokémon.” Jessie leaned away from Leon, crossing her arms. “But we’ll be back! And we’ll steal them _ properly _next time!” 

“I…” Leon blinked, hesitating for a moment. He shook his head, and smiled. “Right.” He said, and Jessie and James gave him twin grins. “Thank you. You may go now.”

“What?” The little Champion gaped. “You’re gonna… _ what?_”

“Glad we had this talk.” Jessie huffed, and gestured for Meowth and James to follow after her. She put her Wobbuffet back into its ball, and Leon shook his head.

“Could I ask you something, Miss Jessie?” He said.

Jessie’s ear twitched, and she whirled around, trying not to grin. “Yes, Mr. Leon?” She asked, her Galarian accent a little exaggerated, and the little Champion almost laughed at the sound of it.

“Oh, there she goes again.” Meowth sighed. “Going absolutely gaga when some Galarian guy calls her Miss.”

“Just because it makes her _ sound _ posh…” James grumbled, and Jessie’s hand shot out behind her to pinch his ear, _ hard. _ “Ow, ow, _ ow! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!_”

Leon laughed softly into his fist, and Red relaxed visibly. He gently stroked Allister’s hair as the boy still clung to him, and nodded. 

“I just wanted to ask you if you knew who bailed these two out.” He said, gesturing at Johnie and Elsie with his free hand. “They’re supposed to be in jail right now.”

Jessie gave Johnie a pointed look, and the young man shook his head. 

“I’m sorry, we really don’t know.” He said, and Leon deflated at that. “S-s-sorry, Mr. Chairman!” He stammered, “All we know is that someone in high Galarian society bailed us out. We were actually supposed to rendezvous tonight, but we’re already way past the meeting time…”

“Well, they were right on bailing out on you.” Jessie scoffed. 

“I guess…” Johnie mumbled. “Or maybe they never intended to meet with us.”

“I see.” Leon frowned, and turned to Jessie and James. “Well, I’ll let you off this time. _ Just _this time. Thanks for saving Allister.” 

“It was… the right thing to do.” Jessie replied. “It’s not right to hurt children, either.”

“I’m… older than Leon.” Allister mumbled into Leon’s coat, and Leon laughed at Jessie’s startled face. He tutted, patting Allister’s head, and he waved the trio off. 

“You might wanna go now.” The little Champion said, “Warwick Yard is right behind us.”

“Warwick Yard?” James echoed, and Meowth shook his head.

“They meant the _ police, _ dummy!” He said, scratching at his ankle lightly. “Let’s skedaddle!”

“Bye, Mr. Leon!” Jessie cooed, waving at him daintily, and James and Meowth huffed exasperatedly, bodily picking her up as they all hurried away into the darkness. In the distance, Leon and the little Champion could see the silhouette of the familiar Meowth hot air balloon, and with a sigh, Leon looked down at Allister, who had lifted his head to look up at him. 

“Hey.” Leon said gently. “You alright? How in the _ world _did you get in there?”

“Secondary typing.” Allister replied, as Leon knelt down in front of him. “I phased through the bars.”

“Jeez.” The little Champion sighed, as the Pokémon began to gather around them. “Bea was going _ nuts _ back in the ballroom, you know. Would it _ kill _you to bring a Rotom Phone?”

“I can’t exactly _ die _that easily.” Allister replied, and the brunet huffed petulantly. The boy giggled at that, and Leon shook his head fondly, getting up. “I… acted rashly.” He said. “I entered the cage to try and help the Pokémon when we get here, and I did.”

“You set them free from the cage, I bet.” The Champion said, and he nodded. 

“And then… I guess… you saw the rest of the mess.” He said, and Leon nodded. 

“We did.” He replied, groaning softly as he flexed his spine. “Ugh, I’m tired. I’m glad you’re safe, Allister, but please, the next time you think it’s a bright idea to play hero, at least _ tell someone _first.”

“You’re not gonna discourage him from doing,” the little Champion waved at the mess of a warehouse they were standing in. “_All that?_” 

“No.” Leon said patiently. “He’s older than _ both _of us, Gloria. He knows what he’s doing.” He gave Allister a little grin, and the boy smiled back up at him. “And besides, when you’re in a locked room with a Galarian Gym Leader, they’re not trapped in there with you.”

“_You’re _ trapped in there with _ them._” Allister huffed, and Leon nodded, grinning. The brunet laughed helplessly, shaking their head. 

“Fair enough.” They said, shrugging, and they could hear the beat of Corviknight unit wings behind them. “And they’re here. Great.”

“Gloria, please accompany Allister to the officer in charge.” Leon said, “Help him get his statement out.”

The little Champion gave Leon a lazy salute, and took Allister’s hand. The both of them strode towards the police officers that began to pour into the building, and Leon lit up at the sight of Achilles finally entering the warehouse, the Aegislash looking relieved as he and Red reunited. Leon huffed fondly, and turned back to the other Pokémon in the warehouse, taking note of all the partygoer Pokémon relying on the Gym Leaders’ Pokémon, counting each one as he spotted them.

“Stapler, Tom, Centiskorch, Hatterene, Obstagoon, Barry, Machamp…” Leon mumbled, nodding to himself, when he spotted a little orange body on the floor, unmoving and quiet, only barely visible around the corner of a dilapidated crate. Leon’s eyes widened, and he jogged over to it, gasping when he realised it was a little Trapinch, lying on the ground bonelessly. “Oh! Oh, no…”

Carefully, he looked the Trapinch over, and realised that it was the same one that had the incense strapped to its back. Back then, in the ballroom, it looked fine, if a little tired from carrying the incense. Now, it looked practically fainted, if not for the awkward little wiggling of its arms that Leon could see. 

“What’s wrong…?” He murmured, gently securing it in his arms, before gently turning it over. His eyes widened, welling up with tears at the sight of a Rocket Controller embedded into its underbelly, just as he heard a police officer’s voice far behind him.

“Found an active controller with the woman!” He declared, “Has anyone seen a Pokémon with the other half?”

“Oh, baby…” Leon could feel the tears coming, as the compounded stress of running the ranking tournament, fighting off team rocket, the night’s ballroom and the following fiasco all came crashing on him.

_ Raihan’s heart would break if he saw this. _

Like a broken dam, tears flowed down his cheeks, and he couldn’t stop them from coming. Sniffling, he hugged the Trapinch close to his heart, and shakily got up onto his feet. 

“Leon, did you see anyth—_Leon!_” The little Champion jumped, and hurried over to him, looking up at him worriedly as he began to sob, holding the unconscious Trapinch in his arms. “What’s with the—_oh._” They breathed, gaping at the baby Pokémon, and the controller embedded into its belly. “_Shit! _Detective Robin, over here!”

Leon could only hold onto the Trapinch as his world burst into a flurry of activity, his head feeling far too large and filled too much with air. He never let it go, not while he, Allister and the little Champion got an airlift to the flagship Pokémon Centre in Wyndon. He almost refused to let it go, until Nurse Joy herself took it off him, as the little Champion and Piers—who showed up at the Pokémon Centre with Marnie in tow—gently led him away from the operating room. 

The guest room door shutting finally snapped Leon out of his trance, and he looked up to see Piers making his way over to him. The other man pulled up a chair in front of Leon, and looked into his face. 

“You okay?” he asked softly. 

“I… don’t know.” Leon replied, and Piers hummed. “I feel… numb.” 

“You were practically catatonic.” He said, “Victor’s worried about you. Hop, too.”

Leon’s head shot up. “You told Hop?” 

“No.” Piers shook his head. “He came over when he heard about the whole Team Rocket thing in the Rondelands. Came over on one of the dogs, is currently playing therapy snuggler to Victor outside.” He said. “Leon, what happened?” 

“I…” Leon deflated, and gingerly looked at the bed. “Can I lie down?”

“Yeah, sure.” Piers said, getting up from his seat to turn the bedside table lamp on, and Leon gingerly slipped his boots off, setting them down on the side of the bed as Piers went to pull a whole armchair closer to the side of the bed (albeit with some difficulty). Leon lay down on top of the sheets with a sigh as Piers settled down next to him on the armchair, peering at his watch with a little frown. “Stay with me.” 

“I’m here.” Leon said, shutting his eyes as he took a deep breath.

“It’s currently half past 1, on a Sunday morning.” Piers said, “You’re at the Charing Square Pokémon Centre, in guest room number—”

“236.” Leon said quietly, and Piers nodded. 

“Yeah.” He said, and Leon took another deep breath. “You’re here.”

“I’m here.” Leon nodded. “Ugh, I feel like I took two steps forward, five steps back.”

“It’d help if you actually _ tell _people what’s going on. Or asked for help.” Piers drawled. “I heard from Victor that you rode Eternatus earlier.”

“Progress, yeah. Sorta.” Leon winced. “Truth be told, I was on the verge of a panic attack, but I couldn’t let them know about that. I couldn’t… it wasn’t relevant to the mission. To get Allister back, the other Pokémon back.”

“Leon, it’s important to mention that.” Piers said. “Still, I’m glad you managed at least that. You’ll be working with it more and more in the future.”

“I know.” Leon sighed. 

“So, what about the Trapinch?” Piers asked, and Leon bit his lip. “Leon.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I know you. You _ need _ to tell someone, but you sure as hell won’t tell your brother, or Victor, or your mum. Hell, even _ Raihan._” He said, and Leon looked crestfallen. “But you can tell me.”

Leon peered at him, and Piers gave him a withering grin. “I’m leaving for Sinnoh in less than a week, and you _ know _I don’t blabber. I’ll be out of your hair and out of your way quickly enough.”

“Piers, I…” Leon hesitated, and he felt tears prickling his eyes again. He buried his face in his hands, and let out a soft sob. “I saw the Trapinch with a Rocket Controller on its belly. When Trapinches get open wounds, they have less than 50% chance of living through that.”

“Right.” Piers murmured. “Exoskeletons, hemolymph, something. I don’t know the full details, but I do know that you’re not supposed to break your Trapinch’s skin, no matter the cost.”

“Yeah.” Leon mumbled. “Their open wounds don’t close up readily, and they could… bleed out.” His voice wavered, and he began to cry anew. “I… I… Raihan loves Trapinches. _ I _ love them because Raihan loves them. Th-that little baby, it—it was j-just—a—a baby,” He stammered, and Piers’s expression softened on him. “Elsie put a Rocket Controller… on a _ baby. _ I—I’m—I’m so—”

“Nurse Joy is taking care of it.” Piers said gently. “Leon, it’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s _ not _ gonna be okay!” Leon shouted, sitting up, and Piers blinked at him. He dissolved into tears, and buried his face in his hands. “It’s… it’s not gonna be okay.” He said gingerly past the sobs that shook his body. “The other Pokémon were _ adults, _ Piers. And their lifespans have been greatly reduced. It was just a _ baby. _ It’ll never be a _ Flygon._”

Piers deflated, and he shook his head, getting up to pick up a tissue box from the coffee table in the room. He gently set it down next to Leon as the man continued to sob. 

“I… Raihan loves Trapinches.” He sniffled. “I-if he—if he ever saw this, it’d—it’d break his heart.” Leon took a tissue, and sheepishly blew his nose. “I’m… I’m so tired. I didn’t ask for this.”

“No one did.” Piers murmured. “It’s not your fault, Leon.”

“I _ know _ it isn’t, but I still feel like it _ is. _ ” Leon pressed. “I’m the damn _ Chairman _ of the League. I could’ve _ done something._”

“This was beyond your control.” Piers frowned. “Leon, you couldn’t have done anything more, because you already did all that you could. How were you supposed to know that Elsie was going to do that?” Leon fell quiet, sniffling softly, and the man sighed. “I know you needed to hear this, Leon, so I’ll say it: you did a fantastic job at the ranking tournament. Not a single person noticed anything wrong, until the very end. Sena’s victory ceremony was phenomenal, and nothing wrong happened. The afterparty went smoothly, and it wasn’t your fault we were interrupted by those three weirdos.”

“Jessie, James, and their Meowth.” Leon said, and Piers blinked at him. Leon met his gaze evenly. “Despite how we met, I know they’re good people. They at least need to be referred to by their names.”

Piers hesitated for a moment, but nodded. “Jessie, James and Meowth.” He amended. “Still, that was not your fault. They _ blew shit up, _ Leon. Literally _ no one _could have prevented that.”

Leon looked down at his hands, and Piers continued. 

“And you and Victor found the warehouse. Allister. You didn’t do all that alone, but you were _ there _ and you _ helped, _and that’s what matters.” He said. “And Arceus be my witness when I tell you that you did a bang-up job of running Galar for a whole damn year.” Piers gave him a little grin. “And restoring my home to how it looked back in the day before the mining completely wrecked it.”

Leon blinked at him. “That’s… not very punk rock of you.”

“What the hell do you mean,” Piers rolled his eyes. “It is _ absolutely _punk rock of me to say all that.” He scoffed. “Just because I specialise in Dark-types…”

“Oh!” Leon jumped. “I-I didn’t mean—I—”

“No, I get it.” Piers laughed, shaking his head as he patted Leon’s shoulder. “Just… get some rest. I suggest having it in your Wyndon flat, and not here, where you could be reminded of the stressful shite.” He got up, and gestured at Leon’s Pokéball harness, which was resting on top of the coffee table. “Wash your face, take Red and Achilles home. Sleep, call Raihan tomorrow morning.” Piers headed to the door, and gave him a dismissive wave. “I’ll watch over the children.”

“I…” Leon blinked at him, and Piers didn’t wait for his response, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him with a prim _ click. _

Leon smiled to himself, his eyes welling up with tears again, and he nodded. 

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I think… I think I’ll go do just that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > PIERS....... this has always been a thought on my mind, honestly....... [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/vDT030VQPk](https://t.co/vDT030VQPk)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [May 20, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1263101355394125833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> SPEAKING OF PIERS up there is a thread headcanoning his relationship with chairman rose. [here's](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1263107859299962881?s=20) another tweet of me worldbuilding spikemuth.
> 
> regarding the trapinches: a trapinch is based off ants, which are insects. insects have an external skeleton (exoskeleton) underneath a single layer of skin (epidermis) that protects inner muscles and the organs from the outside world. in theory, if you break the epidermis, the internal fluid (the "blood", also called hemolymph) will seep out and wound healing is not the same as in mammals. so, if a trapinch's exoskeleton broke, it can lose hemolyph very, very quickly.


	23. Unwind Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ugh, I wish I was there.” 
> 
> “No, stay there. You have your dream to chase. I’ve got a promise to keep.”
> 
> “I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t wish I was there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > 🐜✨Trapinch was sent over. Take good care of Trapinch!✨🐜  
  
I finished my crochet Trapinch project!! My wrist paid dearly for it but I love my little boy!!! I’ll be making him Raihan’s headband and a Charmander friend soon! [pic.twitter.com/7FdQfNnBHl](https://t.co/7FdQfNnBHl)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 3, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1268327206142398464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i recently finished my covid depression project that i [depression ordered](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1266293639489019910?s=20) a while back!! his name is darude and he's stuffed really fat and watches me play pokemon games. he still smells like fabic conditioner, even though it's been a week...! i love him dearly. my mom calls him "pinchita" because i call him "trapinch" sometimes.... i'll be making him raihan's headband and a charmander friend <strike>once my thumb recovers from crochet sprain</strike>!
> 
> recent news has been real depressing, which is why i'm very, very late from the usual update. still, i am working on tsbu and it's currently at 112.8k on my gdoc! and counting! we've got more times to be had together! 
> 
> a quick address re: the erroneous note from last time. trapinches are based on [antlions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlion), which have a larval stage that looks like trapinches, before having an adult stage that looks like a flygon. let it be said that this straight up confirms that pokemon "evolutions" are actually metamorphoses and i also believe that to be true, lmao. the true evolution in the pokemon world can be seen in the "pika-likes", like plusle, minun, marill, morpeko, and others. a huge thank you to [dar4 for pointing out the antlion error](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/309802975)!

“Oh, you wear reading glasses?”

“Yes?” Raihan laughed softly, not looking up from the screen as Cynthia walked past him for the third time, chugging a flask of juice—the ridiculously sugary type, he knew, he saw her sneaking it behind Niles’s back—as she did. He saw her come up behind him in his peripheral vision, and he sat back, stroking a sleeping Gibble on his lap as she inspected the screen of his laptop. 

“I guess I’m a little surprised.” She said, squinting at him. “You don’t look bad with glasses on.”

“Well, all of my gym trainers back in Hammerlocke wear glasses too. They got it from _ someone._” Raihan grinned, pulling his glasses off. He shook his head, and looked up at the wall clock in the living room. He lowered his feet from the couch as he sat up, and set his laptop down on the coffee table in front of him. “What time is it?”

“Almost 10,” Cynthia replied. “I’m surprised you lost track of time. Aren’t you gonna video chat Leon?”

“In a bit. I decided to call a little later today, considering he just finished the Ranking Tournament. I think he’d need to sleep in a little bit.” Raihan said, gesturing at the video currently being uploaded to the internet in front of him. “I just finished editing my vlog for today, I’m currently uploading it.”

“Oh, right. You’re a vlogger.” Cynthia hummed, and peered at the screen again. “What’s the video about?”

“I uploaded the video of us reacting to Gibble hatching.” He said, “Well, it was mostly me, since Rotom kinda just… zeroes in on me like that.” Raihan laughed fondly, shaking his head, and clicked open another window, showing Cynthia that he’d downloaded footage of the different battles in the Ranking Tournament. “I was gonna make an analysis video of some of my favourite battles tomorrow when I have free time, too.”

“Wow, you’re active.” She blinked. “You find the time to do that back at home?” 

“Well, I _ make _ time, I guess.” Raihan laughed, shaking his head. “Actually, I haven’t been this free with my time since…” He sighed, shaking his head as he leaned back against the throw pillows on the couch. “Ugh, I dunno… since _ forever, _ honestly.”

Cynthia gave him a kind smile, and patted his shoulder. “Being a celebrity’s tough, isn’t it?”

“Oh, don’t you know it.” Raihan grinned, and she giggled softly. “I’ll pack up right after this video uploads and head to my room.” he said. She nodded, and patted his shoulder once before heading away. Gibble stirred in Raihan’s lap, and he looked down at her, smiling softly. “Hey. Did I wake you?” 

She mumbled softly, burying her face into Raihan’s shirt, and he laughed fondly, shaking his head as he bundled her up in a muffler Cynthia gave him during lunch, and got up. He carried her over to a little warmed Pokébed next to the fireplace, where Gooms was hovering eagerly around. He gave her a grin, and tucked Gibble into the bed, wrapping the muffler around her before draping a fleece blanket over her. Gooms peered at Gibble, her eyes wide and sparkling with awe as the little Gible rolled around in her bed, gently holding out her paw to keep the baby from falling off. 

“You’ve got the hang of this, huh?” Raihan chuckled, pressing a kiss to Gooms’s head, and she cooed happily at him. “Good girl. I’m gonna be busy tonight, okay? Keep an eye on her.”

Gooms nodded, and Raihan headed back to his laptop, picking it up as the upload finished. He made short work of saving his work two more times before turning his laptop off, and he gave Gooms a little wave. 

Gooms eagerly waved back at him, and he headed off into his room with a sigh. He locked the door behind him and set his laptop down on a desk Niles brought up for him, before heading into the bathroom to wash up. 

He dropped himself into his bed at around 10:05 with a huff, and began to scroll through his social media feeds, absentmindedly thinking about Leon. 

_ Fuck_, he looked good in Raihan’s clothes. He wished he was there to really see it on him, in the flesh—to touch the silk on Leon’s skin, to be the one to slide it off his fiancé’s body as he kissed him senseless.

Raihan squirmed slightly, grinning a little as he palmed his crotch, where he could feel his cock beginning to harden. 

Well, it was only a matter of time, he thought. He shrugged his shirt off, sliding his briefs down his hips to reach for his cock.

Lazily, he palmed himself as he waited for 10:30 to approach, quickly growing tired of his social media feed and turning to his photo gallery to look at photos of Leon, from both the mundane and candid, to the lewd and lascivious, his breaths growing shorter as he began to stroke himself to the sight of his fiancé.

“This is stupid,” he huffed to himself, “I could call Leon and things could get more interesting.” 

He made a move to call Leon, when a misclick had him open his Pidgetter timeline instead. Raihan rolled his eyes—until his timeline refreshed, and the Wyndon Daily Tribune’s post appeared.

** _TEAM ROCKET ATTACK AT THE RONDELANDS: CHAIRMAN AND CHAMPION SPRING INTO ACTION_ **

Raihan stopped, his eyes going wide as he sat up. He immediately opened the article, arousal forgotten and replaced with worry as he read through it.

_ WYNDON - An explosion destroyed the Calyx Ballroom of the Rose of the Rondelands Hotel Saturday night, at 11:36PM. Warwick Yard officers stationed at the Rondelands and Charing Square report that improvised explosives were used and detonated by a Wobbuffet carrying a trigger device. The Pokémon was identified as the Pokémon of a known pair of Team Rocket members, and investigations are underway to determine if Team Rocket is indeed responsible for the blast. _

“Oh, _ fuck. _” Raihan breathed. “Lee.” 

_ The Calyx Ballroom was occupied that evening, hosting the invite-only afterparty of the Pokémon Minor League Ranking Tournament, which aimed to celebrate the victory of the new Champion of the Minor League, Leader Sena. _

There were two in-line photos of Sena and Leon. The one on the left had them in the middle of Wyndon Stadium, Sena’s eyes still puffy from crying as he tearfully accepted a trophy, and the Minor and Major League Gym Badges from Leon. The one on the right was a photo of them and what they were wearing in the afterparty, and Raihan’s heart swelled at the sight of Leon wearing the suit Raihan had bought him for his birthday. Leon also had some of Raihan’s accessories on him, and _ fuck, _that only made Raihan miss him even more. The caption under the photo had a little more information on Sena:

_ (Leader Sena will be taking up the mantle of Minor League Champion and the use of the Electric-Type Gym in Derbyton, which is located near Route 3.) _

“Derbyton, right.” Raihan hummed. “Haven’t been there in a while…” He shook his head, and continued reading.

_ The Team Rocket attack happened near the end of the afterparty, causing an explosion in the side of the building. Though details of what happened inside the ballroom have yet to be announced, sources tell WDT that Team Rocket made away with the Pokémon of all the partygoers in the ballroom, including Chairman Leon’s prizewinning Charizard, nicknamed Red. _

“Oh, shit?” Raihan blinked. “They got _ Red?_”

_ According to eyewitness testimonies, Chairman Leon of the business conglomerate Macro Cosmos, sprang into action alongside the current Champion, Victor, and followed after Team Rocket. A PokéGram post from Leader Gordie later confirmed that Chairman Leon and Champion Victor managed to not only retrieve the stolen Pokémon, but also to apprehend the Team Rocket grunts responsible for the theft, though no confirmation has been made if the blast was caused by the same people. _

_ There have been no reports of injuries sustained by either Pokémon or people. _

_ WDT is still reaching out to Champion Victor or Chairman Leon for comment. _

Raihan fell back with a heavy sigh. “Oh, fuck… so that’s why Leon’s been absent.” He lifted his phone, looking forlornly at his timeline, and went over to PokéGram, refreshing his timeline to see the aforementioned post that Gordie made. It was a selfie with his Coalossal, a little sibling in each of his arms as they hugged the Pokémon. 

> _ @gordieROCK188 grateful that @enbynumber1 and @leon_official brought tommy back!!! thanks for kicking TR ass!! _

Raihan sighed, and saw his timeline update. “Oh, Nessa.”

> _ @nessa49 Thank you for everyone’s kind words. Stapler is home safe and sound! Thank you so much again for @enbynumber1 and @leon_official’s help. Warwick Yard too! _

It was a photo of her Drednaw fast asleep in his pen, and Raihan sighed. 

“Well, I’m glad they’re okay…” he mumbled, and saw Bede, Marnie (posting for Piers), Milo and Bea post on their accounts their messages of gratitude, too. Raihan raised an eyebrow when he saw Kabu’s official account—which was run by his Gym Trainers, more than himself—also post that his Centiskorch was alright, and he saw Sena tagged in the photo as well, holding his Vikavolt close as he stood next to Kabu in the picture. 

“Oh, that’s right…” Raihan mumbled, and looked for Sena’s account. “Might as well.”

He saw that the younger man was indeed following him. He winced, hit _ Follow, _and immediately muted notifications.

Raihan closed the app for the night, and looked back at his contacts. He checked the time—right now, it would be late morning in Galar. Leon was normally an early riser, but with all the time stamps of the other Gym Leaders sometime around 1 in the morning, he wasn’t sure if Leon would already be awake.

Or, hell, be even up to have sex. 

He looked gingerly down at his already flaccid dick, and sighed. 

“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to try.” he mumbled, and rang for Leon.

* * *

Leon jerked rather violently awake when he felt his phone buzzing. He’d left it in his hand as he fell asleep, and he looked up to see that he had an incoming call. Groaning softly, he blindly swiped to answer it, and pressed it to his ear.

“Hello?” He groaned, wondering how he got into his bed in the first place, already feeling himself falling asleep again.

“_Hey, babe._” Raihan’s voice jolted him wide awake, and he sat upright, gasping. “_Whoa. I haven’t even gotten my hand on my dick yet._”

“I—I,” Leon stammered, looking around the room, realising that he was still in the clothes he was wearing the night before. “I—um, _ oof—_Raihan.”

“_Hey, chill out. You’re alright._” Raihan said, and Leon shrugged off his coat and his shirt, kicking off his shoes—oh, _ fuck _ he wore _ shoes _ to bed—as he stripped down. “_Are you? What’s going on in there?_”

“Sorry, I just—” Leon grunted, and finally stripped down to his briefs, throwing himself back onto the bed again with a groan. “It’s been a long night.”

“_I heard._” Raihan said, and Leon’s eyes widened. “_Leon. Tell me what happened._”

Leon bit his lip, hesitating. If he closed his eyes, he knew that he would see Trapinch hemolymph streaming out from behind a Team Rocket controller. 

“_Lee._” Raihan pressed, though his voice was gentle. Leon felt his eyes prickling. “_I know you know something. Ever since the ranking tournament. You and I both know that Leader Rhodora was bullshit. I know you went after Team Rocket last night, it’s all over the news._” He paused, and Leon rolled over onto his side, looking forlornly at Raihan’s side of the bed. 

“I…” Leon said shakily. “I don’t… wanna worry you.” He said feebly. 

“_Leon, it’s kind of my duty to worry about you._” Raihan said. “_Whether you want it or not. I’m going to marry you, after all._”

Oh, Leon couldn’t stop the flush that crossed his cheeks at that. Or the smile that crossed his lips. 

“I… I guess.”

“_And I thought we were past this._” He continued. “_Keeping secrets. Didn’t we agree on not doing that again? Not after Rose._” 

“I… right.” Leon sighed, shutting his eyes. “Raihan… I don’t think I’ll have an easy time fulfilling my promise to you.”

“_To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ll have an easy time, either._” Raihan replied, and Leon laughed softly, burying his face into Raihan’s pillow. “_Baby, can I see your face?_”

“Sure.” Leon murmured, pulling his phone away from his ear to turn on video chat. He looked up to see Raihan’s gentle, loving smile at him, and his own expression softened up as he reached up for his phone, as if reaching for Raihan himself. “Hey.”

“_Hey._” Raihan smiled, blowing him a kiss. “_I’m surprised you’re not in a suit right now._”

“I shrugged it all off.” Leon mumbled, and Raihan laughed at him gently. “Oh, I’d never hear the end of it from you.”

“_Nah._” Raihan shook his head. “_That’s sexy, babe._”

Leon blew him a raspberry, but he couldn’t help but laugh along with Raihan as his fiancé burst out laughing again. They sobered up, falling quiet, and Raihan waited for him patiently as Leon gathered himself together. 

“Okay.” He said quietly. “The Ranking Tournament was infiltrated by Team Rocket.” Leon admitted, and Raihan’s smile turned down into a little frown. Leon nodded sadly, rolling over to his side, gently setting his phone down on Raihan’s side of the bed, as if he was there with him. “They had a plan to give these… devices to losing Gym Leaders, they’re called Team Rocket Controllers.” 

“_Okay… I think I can figure out what they do._” Raihan frowned, and Leon nodded.

“It’s more than that, though.” He said. “Apparently, these Rocket Controllers greatly reduce the lifespan of Pokémon they’re attached to.” 

Raihan’s eyes widened. “_Wait, so the Bronzong, Skorupi and…_”

“Yeah.” Leon sighed. “Those three we fought at Thornton. Every single one of Leader Rhodora’s Pokémon had them too.”

“_Oh, fuck._” Raihan breathed. Leon nodded. 

“They compromised the judges so they couldn’t call Leader Rhodora out on her bullshit. She was a Team Rocket member trying to infiltrate the Major League, too.” Leon continued, “Her real name is Elsie.”

“_So… was she the one you and the lil’ Champ apprehended last night?_” Raihan asked.

“Yeah.” Leon replied, “But there was more than that… during the afterparty, we got interrupted by a different group of Team Rocket grunts that took all the Pokémon away, _ including _Allister.”

“_Allister?_” Raihan spluttered. “_But he’s—how did—_”

“He just,” Leon made a dismissive gesture, “Entered the cage and decided to play hero.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Bea was beyond herself. Still, Gloria and I managed to go after them, only to find Allister’s already caused a lot of trouble, but got _ into _it, too.”

Raihan frowned. “_Okay…_”

“And, well, one thing led to another,” Leon mumbled, “And the point is, we managed to apprehend the Team Rocket grunts—Elsie, and her brother Johnie. And…” Leon hesitated, and Raihan waited patiently for him to speak. “Rai, I…” he bit his lip, and took a deep breath. “Okay. Elsie held Allister hostage, and tried to force me to put a controller on Red.” 

Raihan’s eyes thinned into draconic slits, burning bright blue in _ rage. _

“_How dare she._” He growled. 

“You can ask that again.” Leon mumbled. “Of course, I didn’t. Elsie got knocked out and that’s how we apprehended her. But… after that. I didn’t realise it until it was too late, but she’d… she’d apparently put a…” Leon hiccuped softly, and Raihan’s eyes softened on him. “She… she put a Rocket Controller on a Trapinch.” He bit out, and Raihan’s jaw fell slack. “She—she cut a baby’s life in half, Rai, and I—I thought of you.” 

Raihan fell quiet, as Leon sniffled softly. 

“I-I just… I didn’t _ mean _to, I had—I guess I broke down—I was just so stressed out, and—and—then this,” Leon stammered, and Raihan shook his head, hushing him gently. Leon fell quiet, peering up at his fiancé. “Raihan…”

“_I’m so sorry you had to go through that._” He said, and Leon shook his head. “_Was there anyone with you? Did anyone help you out?_”

“Piers.” Leon replied. “He was the one who sent me home. Last time I heard from him, he was looking after the children.” 

“_That’s good. Ugh, I wish I was there._” Raihan said, and Leon shook his head. 

“No, stay there.” Leon said, “You have your dream to chase. I’ve got a promise to keep.”

“_I _ know.” Raihan grumbled. “_Doesn’t mean I can’t wish I was there._” He said gently, reaching out to Leon, too, and Leon gently pressed his palm against his cheek, like how Raihan would hold him. “_Thanks for telling me, baby. Good job._”

Leon laughed softly, and peered up at him. It had only dawned on him that Raihan was a little less dressed than he was, and he fell quiet, his eyes moving lower down his fiancé’s body, flushing slightly when he noticed the root of Raihan’s dick right out of the edge of the frame.

“_... So I’ve been having my arse kicked every day… babe?_” Raihan asked, and Leon jumped, blinking repeatedly as he snapped out of his trance, feeling his cheeks grow even hotter when his stomach dropped in disappointment as Raihan raised the camera to focus on his face. “_Babe. Are you falling asleep? Do you need to get some rest?_”

“Are you naked?” Leon blurted out, and Raihan blinked at him, taken aback by his outburst. “I—I mean, uh,” Leon stammered, slapping his hands over his mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“_Were you listening at all to me?_” Raihan grinned, cocking his head, and Leon shuddered at the sensation of his fiancé’s gaze on him. Still, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Raihan’s piercing blue eyes, intently boring into his body with a burning heat that never failed to set his heart on fire.

Oh, he’d missed this. Come to think of it, Leon hadn’t been able to chase release like this. 

“No.” He murmured, “I’m… very… distracted.”

“_I get it._” Raihan chuckled, and Leon took a sharp breath when he saw him reach down out of frame. “_So you, uh. Need help with getting distracted?_”

“U-uh… huh.” Leon said intelligently, and Raihan chuckled, and _ shit _ he was _ definitely _ jerking himself off now. “_Fuck._”

“_That’s the idea, baby._” Raihan said, “_You sure? You really wanna have sex right now?_”

Leon swallowed thickly, and nodded. “Y-yeah. I could… I could use the break.”

“_Okay._” Raihan replied. “_Shrug off those briefs and show me what you look like._”

Leon shivered, but he did as he was told, letting his phone hover in front of him as he pulled off the last of his clothes, awkwardly shifting on top of the bedsheets and moving back to let Raihan see the rest of him, flushing deeply when Raihan whistled lowly. 

“_Oh, I missed this._” Raihan grinned. “_I feel like I’m watching a very specific subset of porn right now._”

“Please don’t tell me you _ actually _went and looked for porn with me-lookalikes back in the day.”

“_I will neither confirm nor deny that statement._” Raihan snickered, also moving back to let Leon see him pulling his own underwear off. Leon’s snarky reply flew out of his mind when he saw Raihan’s cock bob free of his briefs, and he swallowed thickly as Raihan tossed them out of frame. “_Heh, Meowth got your tongue?_”

“Last time I checked, Raihan, Meowth are Steel-type, not Dragon-type.” Leon blew him a raspberry, and Raihan grinned at him cheekily as he settled back down onto his bed. Leon’s breath caught in his throat as Raihan gave his half-hard cock a languid stroke. “Oh, _ fuck._”

“_I missed you too, baby._” Raihan purred, “_C’mon, I can’t be the only guy giving a show._”

Leon rolled his eyes, and took hold of his own half-hard cock, steadily growing harder as he watched Raihan stroke himself lazily. Leon shuddered, feeling sweet friction on his cock for the first time in what felt like ages, and Raihan’s steadily deepening breaths came out as rumbling growls, the dragon in his fiance’s blood rearing its head as arousal began to grow between them. 

“_Yeah, that’s it. Ugh, I wish I could be the one touching you._” Raihan said, and Leon shivered, nodding as he threw his head back against the pillows, his eyes sliding shut, but he didn’t really need to see—not when Raihan was doing all the talking. “_I’d be kissing you slowly, just the way you like it, while I play with those cute little nipples of yours._” 

Leon reached up without any prompting, rolling his nipples between his fingers, and he gasped, jerking his chest up towards his phone, where he could hear Raihan growl in approval, his voice choking back a terrifyingly draconic roar. 

“_Fuck, and your giant tits, babe… they’re so big. I miss them so much already._”

“Rai…” Leon whined. “I miss you so much.”

“_Me too, Lee._” Raihan murmured gently. “_I miss touching you, running my hand down from your tits to your cock…_”

Leon palmed his pectoral the way Raihan would, while his other hand squeezed the base of his erection, _ hard, _ already feeling his climax approaching with how long it’d been. He ran his hand down his body, just as Raihan described, and he could hear Raihan’s shuddering breath, and the wet _ squelch _ of his hand squeezing his cock, wet with lubricant. 

Leon shuddered, feeling his precum dribble out from the head of his cock, and he gingerly spread it over his cock, using it as lubricant.

“_Shit. Leon, what the fuck, that’s hot._” Raihan growled, and Leon cracked his eyes open to see him stroking himself harder and faster. “_Damn. We gotta try this again when I’m with you. Where’d you pick _ this _ up?_”

“W-well,” Leon tried to grin, “I learned from the best slut in town.”

“_Good to know you can still learn a thing or two from me, Sir._” Raihan grinned, licking his lips lasciviously, and Leon shuddered pleasantly. “_B-but fuck, I’m close._”

“M-me too.” Leon admitted, his hips jerking helplessly into his fist, and Raihan laughed.

“_We got embarrassingly weak, huh?_” Leon didn’t know how he managed to do that, his thoughts fizzling out as he began to jerk himself off at the rate Raihan was. The friction, the speed, was almost _ too much, _ and Leon gasped, jerking up into his hand as he began to stroke himself in earnest. “_Yeah, that’s it, baby. Just seeing you cum on your hand’s gonna do it._”

“R-Raihan,” Leon gasped, feeling his core tighten up, his orgasm hurtling towards him at a dizzying speed. “Please—please, I—”

“_I’m close too._” Raihan groaned. “_Ugh, look at your cock. It’s so nice, it fitted so well in my hand. I miss feeling that in me, in my mouth, in my hand, my ass…_”

“_Rai,_” Leon groaned, his grip tightening on his cock, as his hips began to move in earnest, fucking into his fist desperately. “R-Rai, I miss you—I miss you so m-much, I… I love you!”

“_Love… you too._” Raihan laughed breathlessly. “_Leave it to you to end up all mushy right… nngh—as we’re—hrk—_”

“Raihan!” Leon gasped, his orgasm finally slamming into him, and he came _ hard, _ cum shooting up and splattering on his chest. He heard Raihan growl loudly, before a boneless _ thump _ told him that Raihan had dropped himself down onto the bed. “Oh…” he looked down at himself, and winced. “Ah, _ shit._”

“_That’s hot._” Raihan grinned, and Leon could hear the sound of a shutter clicking. 

“You did _ not _just take a photo.”

“_Screenshot,_” Raihan corrected him. “_C’mon, baby. A guy needs fap material._”

Leon rolled his eyes, still panting heavily. “Oh, what _ else _did I expect from you?”

“_I’ll send a dick pic to make up for it._” Raihan snickered cheekily, and Leon laughed, shaking his head fondly as he draped his arm over his eyes. The both of them fell quiet, simply basking in the afterglow of sex. 

“Hey, Raihan?” Leon asked, after a long moment of comfortable silence, and Raihan hummed. “Thanks. It really did help me relax.”

Raihan gave him a cheeky grin, and shrugged. “_Glad I could help._”

Leon smiled at him sweetly, and Raihan blew him a kiss. “_So,_” He panted softly, “_Have… have you seen my hatching reaction video?_”

Leon paused, his mind struggling to catch up with the sudden change in topic, and he burst out laughing, hiding his face into his pillow. 

“Oh, Arceus.”

“_That’s not my name, babe._”

“Shut up.” Leon laughed, looking back at Raihan, his eyes filled with fondness and affection. “No, I haven’t. I’ll go watch it later.”

“_You won’t regret it._” Raihan grinned. “_I’ll introduce you to our newest baby tomorrow. She’s asleep right now._” 

“_Our _baby?” Leon raised an eyebrow at Raihan, smiling, and Raihan beamed at him. 

“Our _ baby._” He confirmed. “_We’re building a family, Lee. She’s part of that now._”

Leon flushed, laughing softly, and nodded. “Gotcha. I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“_Sleep in lots, baby. You need it._” Raihan pointed at him sternly. “_Go to sleep. Don’t do shit. Love you._”

“Yes, Rai, I’m going back to sleep.” Leon drawled, but smiled softly up at his phone. “I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“_See ya._” Raihan grinned, and blew him a kiss, before hanging up. Leon sighed happily, rolling onto his back as he stared at the ceiling. 

“See ya.” He sighed, and looked down at himself with a wince. “But for now, I’m gonna wash up first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I'M SO HAPPYYYY i recruited a trapinch and named it raihan!! now leon has another friend!! [#PokemonMysteryDungeonDX](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonMysteryDungeonDX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/mrVLnWEtoj](https://t.co/mrVLnWEtoj)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 8, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1269977522780815360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i also recently started playing pokemon mystery dungeon!!!!! and recruited a trapinch!!!!!! god i hope he doesn't evolve....... i love trapinch..... 


	24. Overdue Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lemons!” He cried. “I missed you guys so much!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > raihan: me: [pic.twitter.com/5hJZNu0y1Q](https://t.co/5hJZNu0y1Q)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1273092424664068098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> **HAPPY ISLE OF ARMOUR RELEASE DAY!!!!!** [MY DOWNLOAD IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1273243704770220033?s=20) THANKS SLOW ASS PHILIPPINE INTERNET CONNECTION LMAOOOOO but !! as promised over on twitter, i'm updating to celebrate the release of the DLC part 1!!! hopefully this fic will be done by the time DLC part 2 rolls around LMAO
> 
> i really pushed to finish my sword playthrough so i can do the damn dlc but now im cockblocked smh...... this is home of fobia

The Wyndon skyline was pretty, he had to admit. Staying the night at the Rose of the Rondelands was lovely, and though Kabu had the tendency to snore exactly the way Sena’s father did, the blond had little to complain about much else. The stay had been complimentary of the afterparty, though he supposed the extra special service they got was from staff making up for the mess Team Rocket made. 

He was glad Barry came back to him safely—he’d been worried sick for his old friend, and by the time Leon and the little Champion (whom Sena _ still _ didn’t know if they were named Gloria or Victor, and decided to call them ‘Champ’ at all times, instead) left, Sena had a breakdown that _ also _required medical attention. 

He spent the evening curled up next to his uncle in a king-sized bed, face buried in Sunny’s tummy while Petey clung behind his head. Between him and Kabu, Sena held Busby close to his heart, terrified of the thought that his last old friend would be torn away from him just like Lemons, Snips and Barry were. 

Of course, Leon and the Champ brought all of the Pokémon back, and Sena was determined not to let anyone know about what happened to him. Kabu conceded to his plea that early morning they discussed his breakdown in the hotel room, and quietly held his nephew while Sena simply collapsed, falling in dreamless sleep. 

They overslept until it was almost noon. Kabu tolerated a Flying Taxi ride for Sena’s sake, took him home to Motostoke and sent him on his way with an old Galarian friend to the Motostoke Quarantine Facility, where Lemons and Snips were being held.

He didn’t really know what to expect—he’d never been to a quarantine facility, let alone something that could only remind him of what a prison looks like.

Well—_prison, _ in a sense that it looked like that hotel-like _ prison cell _in that one TV show he and his ex pirated about that man who ate rude people, but for Pokémon. 

(Don’t ask him, he’d never even been to Aether Paradise, what the hell was he supposed to know what enclosed Pokémon sanctuaries looked like, when Lavaridge Town and the entirety of Alola were both wildlife sanctuaries themselves?) 

He stood awkwardly behind his friend as she did all the talking—not that he had a hard time talking to people, but that she was currently waving her police liaison badge around like a blunt weapon, Detective Robin’s approval letter (complete with Leon’s signature) on the reception desk in front of them bearing the brunt of her badge’s blows on the table. 

“And so, we’d like to see AR-2634, and EM-3945.” She said with a smug huff. “Now, please.”

“Emi.” Sena sighed, shaking his head fondly, and she waved her hand at him. 

“Please. I’d like a day without my insufferable boss, and with my old best friend.” Emi gave him a smarmy little grin, snatching the visitor passes from the exasperated receptionist’s hands. “Here. Let’s go.”

Emi ushered him into the lift, where he stood by the glass window with a sigh, leaning against the railings. He heard his Pokéball harness clacking against the railing, and he peered outside—at the sprawling skyline of Motostoke, and the Flying Taxis that marked the highways of the sky. 

Emi punched his arm lightly. “Lighten up. It’ll be just like a prison visitation.” She said, crossing her arms before turning back to disinterested scrolling through her phone. 

Sena winced, and she peered up at him, and sighed. 

“Sorry.” She mumbled. “Been on one too many of these.” She turned her gaze away from him, frowning. “Anyway, I have something to tell you.” 

Sena raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed bitterly. 

“Remember when I called you the day you arrived? I said I’d get Lemons and Snips moved from Thornton to Motostoke as fast as I could, but in the end, Dad sorted it out.” She sighed, looking up at the light of the elevator, and Sena’s expression softened on her.

“Emi, you know it’s okay to ask your dad if—”

“So I decided to one-up him, and sorted this out.” She reached into her biker jacket, and pulled out an envelope. Grinning, Emi handed it to him, and Sena blinked at her confusedly. “Open it.”

“Uh…” Sena opened the envelope, and quickly scanned the letter inside. “This is… a signed transfer permit to Derbyton.” He looked up at her, eyes wide. “You… got Lemons and Snips approval to transfer to that place I’m moving to after this.” 

“Yeah.” She huffed. “That’s why the receptionist was _ pissed._” She snickered, shaking her head. “_The rat just got here, and now it’s moving out? Do you know how much hell it’s giving us?_, they said. _ Priceless._” 

Sena laughed fondly, shaking his head. “Lemons is a good boy.” 

“Snips is not.” 

Sena snorted. “Snips is not.” 

She elbowed him lightly, and gestured at his phone. “By the way, how’s Galarian socmed treating you?” 

“Pretty good.” Sena shrugged, “Though, I gotta tell you, I haven’t looked at my Pidgetter feed since… uh, Barry came back from last night’s… thing.”

“Oh, the thing.” Emi frowned. “How’re you feeling?”

“A little better. I helped Uncle Kabu make a post on PokéGram.” Sena grinned, “Wanna see?”

“Sure.” Emi shrugged, and Sena unlocked his phone. He opened his PokéGram app, and blinked at the influx of notifications he got. “Oh, wow. Must be nice being a Champion.” Emi whistled. 

“Oh, whoa.” Sena breathed. “I’m _ verified._”

“I bet Ilima isn’t.” Emi said, and Sena elbowed her. “Jeez, sorry!”

“We parted amicably, and he actually _ is _verified, thanks. We’re mutuals, too.” Sena huffed, rolling his eyes as he filtered his notifications, finally seeing the reason for his influx of followers. “Oh, Arceus.” He breathed. “Raihan followed me back.”

“Raihan?” Emi blinked.

“Yeah, Raihan.” Sena said, pointing at his phone. “The—the uh, Mr. Chairman’s boyfriend. I thought he hated me.”

“I dated a Raihan once.” Emi hummed. 

“Ha-ha, very funny.” Sena rolled his eyes.

“No, I mean it. He was yay tall and had blue eyes and a _ huge _dick.” She grinned, and Sena’s expression wrinkled at her. 

“Please tell me you’re joking.” 

“About this big.” 

“_Please _tell me you’re joking.”

“Can’t blame the Chairman for tapping that.”

“Oh, _ c’mon!_” 

“Hammerlocke University is a very, _ very _small place.” Emi said, and Sena fell quiet. 

“Shit.” He said intelligently. “_That _ Raihan. Oh, _ fuck. _ You _ dated _Raihan?”

“Oh, we’re here!” Emi said, “Come along now!” 

Sena jumped when she slid past the elevator doors, which were steadily closing. “Wait!” he screamed, “Wait for me!”

* * *

When Leon was single, his weekends were mostly spent working. Endorsements, exhibition matches, accompanying Rose to most occasions the man could drag Leon along with him to. Most of those accompaniments didn’t end pleasantly for Leon, but he would rather forget about them, if he could. 

When Leon and Raihan began their cohabitation, his weekends were much different. They made a promise together that Sundays would be spent together—save for Leon’s therapy sessions in the afternoon. The morning would start off with lazy morning sex, and then lazy cuddling or video games or idle chat. In the afternoon, Raihan would drop Leon off at his therapist’s office, and take the time to do the groceries while Leon was at therapy. He came back exactly an hour later to pick him up to head home for dinner after his session. Sometimes, they would go out to Hammerlocke together to see the babies in the nursery, or go out camping with their teams in the Wild Area, but most of the time, Sundays were spent at home. 

This Sunday was the first ‘normal’ Sunday away from Raihan, and Leon spent half of it fast asleep. After his call with Raihan, Leon took a bath, and then fed the Pokémon, before letting Red dry his hair. Apparently, he’d fallen asleep through that, and that Red was kind enough to tuck him back into bed, until lunchtime, when Red knew it was soon time for Leon to see his doctor, and the other Pokémon were getting hungry again for lunch. 

Leon sat up slowly, blinking sleep out of his eyes as Red looked at him expectantly from the foot of his bed. 

“I’ve… I fell asleep, didn’t I?” Leon mumbled, rubbing at his eyes, and Red nodded. “Damn.” He yawned, looking over at the side of his bed, where his Rotom phone sat at the bedside table, quiet. “No notifs?” 

“_No notifications!_” It chirped, and Red growled softly, gently taking Leon’s hand. He tugged on it slightly, and Leon nodded, yawning as he got out of bed. He let Red lead him to the kitchen, where he began pouring out Pokéfood for the Pokémon, until Danny took the bag off his hands, gently waving him towards the fridge. 

Leon gave his Inteleon a tired little smile, nodding in gratitude before he made his way to the fridge, pulling out some leftovers he left in there that Saturday morning. Leon went through the motions of preparing and feeding himself half-asleep, only barely processing what was happening as Red led him to the door, insistently trying to push him out.

“Wh—where’re we going?” He mumbled, and his Rotom phone chirped. 

“_Your appointment with Dr. Grana is in an hour!_” It chimed, and Leon jumped, jerking awake.

“Oh, shit!” He gasped, “That’s right—Red, don’t push me out, I need to get dressed!”

* * *

In all his twenty-odd years of life, Sena had never visited anyone anywhere that wasn’t their home, or at a hangout spot. His family had been generally healthy—no hospitalisations, no accidents, no trouble with the law—he never had to ever go see a loved one at a hospital or a prison. He supposed seeing his Pokémon in the Pokémon Centre could count, but the Pokémon Centres in Alola were far too welcoming to make him nervous.

Not like the Motostoke Quarantine Facility—which just frisked him for the third time in a row, at the door right before he could see Lemons and Snips. The quarantine officer seemed starry-eyed when he frisked Sena, though—and when they were done, Sena jumped when the officer pulled out a little notebook. 

“Leader Sena, could I get an autograph?” 

“Oh, you!” Said his partner, shaking her head. “We’re at _ work!_”

“Yeah, I know, but did you _ see _ his battle against Leader Rhodora yesterday? That was _ amazing!_” The officer said, eyes sparkling with wonder. “I’m a huge fan now!” 

“I—uh, thanks.” Sena laughed sheepishly, taking the officer’s proffered pen. “It’s really no problem. I’ll just… uh…” 

“Here.” The officer pointed at a blank page on his little notebook, and Sena quickly made up a signature on the spot, throwing in a random star on top of his name. “Man, and to think _ half _your original team was in a quarantine facility!”

“I, uh.” Sena laughed sheepishly. “I wish they weren’t.”

The two officers went quiet, and the one who asked Sena for his autograph looked sheepish. Sena shook his head, and handed the pen back to the officer. “Thank you for your support. Is it okay if we went in now?”

“Actually,” Emi said, putting her phone down from a call Sena hadn’t realised she was taking while he was talking to his fan. “I gotta go. Dad called.”

“Right.” Sena nodded. “I’ll… I can find my way back to Uncle Kabu’s.”

“Right.” Emi nodded, and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll just have a quick chat with the transfer officer about Lemons and Snips. I’ll make sure they let you know when they can be moved to Derbyton.”

“Thank you so much, Emi. Really.” Sena sighed, and she gave him a little grin. 

“What kind of a friend am I if I didn’t use my liaison badge for you?” She said, and gave him a wave. “See ya.”

Sena gave her a little wave as she strode back towards the elevator. He sighed as she stepped into it, and shook his head. 

“She never told me if she really did date Raihan…” He mumbled, shaking his head, and he turned back to the officers. “Right. I’m ready.”

“Right this way, Leader Sena.” 

Sena was led to a glass door, where just beyond him, he could see a wide, spacious area with different whirring electrical equipment. His eyes widened in awe, watching a Magnemite hover close to the door to sap energy from a battery nearby. 

“Oh, wow.” He breathed. 

“This is an enclosure specifically for electric-type Pokémon. None of them are exclusively for each trainer’s Pokémon, so you may see other people in there.” His fan explained, having recovered somewhat from the awkward moment before. “Will you be in there for long?”

“What time does visitation hours end?” Sena asked, and the two guards shared sympathetic looks.

“As long as we’re here, you’re free to stay.”

Sena turned to look at them, smiling weakly. “Thanks.” He said quietly, nodding once, and one of the guards swiped his keycard over the lock. The doors slid open, catching the Magnemite’s attention, but it quickly flew away as Sena took a step into the enclosure. The ground underneath him was firm, and his footsteps crinkled fresh, healthy-looking grass. He nodded to himself—most man-made electric-type sanctuaries had earthy flooring to ground electrical charges, so it came as no surprise to Sena to see them there. He lit up when he saw a few Trapinches peeking out of the ground, quickly retracting when he approached, save for one that crawled over to him, gleefully beginning to nibble on his shoelaces. 

The Galarian Metropolitan Police and the Bureau of Quarantine logos were painted on the Trapinch’s back in one of those washable non-toxic Poképaints Sena knew Pokémon Coordinators sometimes used to decorate their partner Pokémon. He hummed thoughtfully—these must be the Pokémon they use to help maintain the ground and absorb excess electrical charges. 

He knelt down to stroke the Trapinch’s head, and remembered the night before. 

There was a Trapinch in the ballroom that night, too. He wondered how it was doing. 

“Rai?” Sena jumped, whirling around at the familiar sound of his best friend’s voice, and he lit up to see Lemons frozen in midair, staring at him in shock. Sena felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes, and he shot up onto his feet, spreading his arms wide. 

“Lemons!” He cried, and the Raichu began to cry, hurtling towards him. He hugged Sena tightly, wailing pitifully as he clung onto his trainer with his stubby little paws. The sound of an Emolga squeaking squeezed tears out of Sena’s eyes as his little Snips came gliding down towards him from a tall battery tower, and he held them both close, dropping down to the grass, the Trapinch waddling close curiously. 

“I missed you guys so much!” Sena sobbed, sitting up gingerly as Lemons and Snips moved away from him. Gently, he rested his hand on Lemons’s head, and Snips quickly ran up from his hand to his shoulder, cuddling into the crook of his neck. “Oh, I know. I missed you so much.” He laughed softly when the Trapinch he petted earlier made itself comfortable in his lap. Sena shook his head when Lemons and Snips eyed it warily, but it quickly shut its eyes and began to doze off. He petted his Pokémon reassuringly, and reached for his harness. “Here’s Barry and Busby.”

Lemons and Snips lit up, and Sena released the Rotom and Vikavolt. The four Pokémon gathered together, cuddling as they reacquainted with each other. Sena watched them fondly, before shaking his head fondly. “Lemons, Snips. We have new friends.”

The four Pokémon settled down, and Busby and Barry led the other two Pokémon to approach Sena. Sena held out two Pokéballs, and Lemons and Snips looked at him curiously. 

“Say hello to Sunny and Petey.” He said, and deployed them into the enclosure. 

Sunny straightened up, yawning softly, as Petey lifted his body off the ground, curiously blinking at the new faces. Sena smiled as his team gingerly approached each other, but with a snuggle from Snips to Sunny’s cheek, all of his Pokémon were soon giggling and laughing together, chasing each other around their own little space in the enclosure. Sighing happily, Sena dropped himself down on the grass, looking up at the artificially-lit ceiling as he took a deep breath. The Trapinch on his lap protested his sudden movement with a warning nibble on his shirt, but did nothing else when Sena remained lying down, settling back down to doze off on top of him. 

Sena jumped slightly when a shadow fell over him, but he calmed down when he saw Lemons leaning over him, big blue eyes blinking at him curiously. 

“Hey.” He said softly, spreading his arms, and the Raichu was quick to cuddle into his arms as Sena hugged him close. “I’m sorry it took me a week to come see you and Snips here. I was… busy.” 

Lemons hummed, burying his face into Sena’s shirt.

“I… won a tournament. For the first time without you by my side.” He laughed sadly, draping his arm over his eyes. “I don’t know if I feel good about it.” 

Lemons cooed sadly, and Sena sighed. 

“It feels a little… hollow, y’know?” he said, “That Leader Rhodora lady… she was hurting her Pokémon. I felt like I wasn’t fighting for myself, for my career as a pro trainer, I was… well, you know when the whole deal came down in Alola? It was _ that _all over again.”

Lemons whined softly. “I know.” Sena groaned. “I said I was done with all that adventure stuff, and here we go again. I’ve got really rotten luck, haven’t I?” He mumbled, and his Raichu cuddled him comfortingly. “Thanks, bud.”

The rest of his team came over to him, and he laughed softly, sitting up to see them all looking at him expectantly. The Trapinch tumbled off his chest and fell on its back. It let out a little cry, clamping its jaw in annoyance, but Sena helped it up onto its feet. He laughed softly when it huffed in annoyance, and scuttled away, burrowing into the ground away from them. Snips blew a raspberry at it.

“Behave.” Sena laughed, petting his Emolga, and sighed. “I’ll be moving to this place called Derbyton next month. We’re just getting some papers sorted out, but hopefully you and Lemons will be moving to the Derbyton Quarantine Facility in time, so I can visit you easily there, too.” 

Lemons nodded, and rubbed their cheeks together. 

“Mr. Chairman said he’s working on getting you guys unbanned. Hopefully he’ll make it.” Sena mumbled. “I… I believe in him. I want to believe in Mr. Leon.”

Lemons bobbed up and down, and Sena gave him a little smile. “You believe in him too, buddy?” He asked, and the Raichu cheered happily. “That’s great.” He chuckled, and got up. “Anyway, I’ll be here for as long as I can, and I was told there was a campsite here if I wanted to go camping with you guys. Do you know where it is?”

Lemons and Snips nodded excitedly, and began to lead him and the rest of his team along. Sena checked his phone clock—it was just after lunchtime, and he wondered what Leon was up to.

* * *

Leon was sooner seated in a Flying Taxi than later. He opted not to fly on Red’s back today, choosing to be inconspicuous as a break from the world. By now, he supposed, the entirety of Galar would have heard of what happened the night before, but he didn’t really have the energy to go looking it up while he was en route to his therapist. Still, Rotom told him he had no notifications, and he really didn’t feel like looking at anything related to work right now.

Hell, he didn’t feel like looking at anything but Raihan right now, but Raihan was asleep halfway across the world from him, and Leon had a therapist to see. 

He sighed, leaning against the door of the Flying Taxi as the steady flap of Corviknight wings soothed him somewhat, but the moment was short-lived when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He sat up quickly, pulling it out of his pocket to see it was a message from Detective Robin.

_ I have some updates regarding the case. When can I have a word with you? Hopefully somewhere private. _

Leon winced, and peered at his wristwatch. Just a little after lunchtime. 

_ I’m currently busy. I’m probably available tomorrow, I’ll have to check in with my assistant. I would say my office is a private place, but if you were seen entering MC, I think that’d get people talking. _

Leon frowned at the detective’s reply. 

_ That’s true. I know a restaurant in Locksley that’s discreet. Would it be too out of your way? _

Leon blinked at the location Robin sent him. It was an apiary that had a café out front, and Leon couldn’t help but smile at the sweet logo of a Ribombee dancing with a Grimmsnarl. 

_ Café Violette, huh. Haven’t tried that. It’s no problem. I’ll let you know when I can meet you there. _

Leon sighed, shaking his head. “Jeez.” He huffed, lighting up slightly as the familiar road of his therapist’s office grew closer. Leon felt a weight lift off his chest as the Flying Taxi descended, and when the cabbie opened the door for him, they gave him a friendly little smile, and a mock salute.

“Safe and sound, as always.” They said, and Leon gave them a sweet smile. 

“Thanks, Hammy.” He said, getting up as he stepped out and patted their shoulder. “Could you be back in about an hour?” 

“Of course, Guv’nor.” They tipped their hat. “I’ll be around the area.” 

“Thank you.” Leon sighed, giving them a wave as they got back onto their Corviknight. He watched them leave, sighing softly, before he turned to see that his therapist’s office door was open, and his Hatterene was peering at him, her beady little eyes fixed on him in that unnerving way that—after a while—only made Leon smile. “Hi, Abigail.” He greeted, walking up to her, and she blinked at him as he approached. “Is Dr. Grana in?”

She nodded once, and stepped—well, _ glided _aside to let him in. Leon stepped in after her, and she waved the door shut with a carefully-powered Psychokinesis. She made her way to another room—a waiting room, Leon realised—and Leon strode onward, already used to making this journey that only ever got easier as he saw his therapist every week. 

He didn’t even get to touch the doorknob when the door opened. Dr. Grana was a man with mostly a handsome, if a little angular, face. There was white at his temple that hid behind a pair of stylish wooden-frame reading glasses, and he was always impeccably dressed in three-piece suits. The man’s office was about as fancy as he was, and Leon always felt like he was sitting in a hotel room, rather than an office. 

Abigail came over to Leon’s side as her trainer gave him a kind smile. 

“Mr. Chairman. You never leave me waiting.” 

“You know me.” Leon laughed softly, as Abigail held out her hand for his jacket. He shrugged it off, handing it to her gently, and her trainer nodded in approval. “I don’t wanna be rude.”

“You, rude? Hardly.” The therapist chuckled, and gestured for him to enter. “If you please?”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, shaking his head. “I’ve… I’ve had a long week.”

“I’ve heard.” Dr. Grana replied, gesturing for him to sit down on one of his three perfectly plush, fancy couches, and Leon settled down on a suede armchair as his doctor sat down across him with a soft breath. “It was all over the news, though I prefer to hear how it happened to you.”

“Of course.” Leon chuckled, shaking his head. “Well… in a bit. Would it be okay if I talked about something else first?”

Dr. Grana tipped his head slightly in consent. 

“Last night, I had a panic attack.” 

“About the Rocket attack?”

“No.” Leon shook his head. “Over an injured Trapinch.” He explained, barely noticing Abigail as she moved around them, setting down a cup of tea in front of her trainer, and then in front of Leon. “Team Rocket put a device on it, and I thought it was going to die. I thought about Raihan, and how it’d hurt him if he saw that, and everything just… fell apart from there.”

“Oftentimes a straw breaks the camel’s back, and not the whip.” Dr. Grana hummed. “You seem well now, though. That’s a good sign.”

“W-well, yeah. I had a friend help me through it. I also talked to Raihan about it.” 

“Good.” Dr. Grana nodded. “It’s reassuring to hear that you have a good support group, even without your partner physically with you.” He took a prim sip of tea. “Are you still getting the intrusive thoughts like before?” 

“Not as of late.” Leon shook his head. “But I haven’t really been thinking about…” Dr. Grana gave him an encouraging nod, but Leon bit his lip. His therapist nodded once, and gestured for him to continue. “_Him, _for a while now. Team Rocket’s been keeping me busy.” 

“I see.” Dr. Grana hummed. “Is there anything you’d like to add?” 

“Nothing much, I think.” Leon mumbled. “At least, nothing that isn’t super sensitive…”

Dr. Grana chuckled. “Mr. Chairman, I am obligated by my profession to remain silent for the storm of your hardship.” He said, “Your burden is to be my silence. I’ve handled sensitive information before.” 

Leon smiled at him weakly. “And, I guess, your husband’s a police officer.”

“_Was _ an officer, but yet.” Dr. Grana nodded. “Your secrets are mine to keep.” 

“I suppose.” Leon groaned. “It’s going to be a long one, though.”

“We have,” the man checked his wristwatch. “The better half of our hour to spare.” 

Leon grinned tiredly. “You have the patience of a saint, Dr. Grana.” 

“Only as long as the time we have together.” The man replied pleasantly. “Now, from the beginning…”

* * *

Visitation hours at the Motostoke Quarantine Facility ended at 5 PM. Sena was sad to see Lemons and Snips go, and he almost burst into tears when he saw them press their faces into the glass of the door, looking at him pleadingly. 

“I’m sorry,” He said sadly, “I’ll be back, I promise. I’ll come see you guys as much as I can.”

The two Pokémon whined, crying out for him, and Sena bit his lip. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s never easy, saying goodbye.” An unfamiliar voice said behind him, and Sena turned around to see a tall, blond man who was mostly angles and sharp lines. Sena blinked at him—wasn’t this the man Leon was dancing with the night before? “Ah, where are my manners?” The man chuckled, and offered his hand to Sena. “I am Lord Narcissus of Hammerlocke. My family has historical sovereignty over Derbyton.”

“Derbyton.” Sena echoed, thinking for a moment, and his eyes widened. “Oh, the Electric-type Gym is there.” 

“Indeed. You are expected to move in by next month, yes?” Narcissus said, and Sena nodded, taking a peek at Lemons and Snips at the door one last time. “Come, come. I’d like to invite you to dinner, young man.”

“Wh-what for?” Sena asked, taking a step back away from him. He remembered the look on Leon’s face when they danced together. (Damn, he was looking at Leon a lot that night, wasn’t he?) The Chairman had looked… _ uncomfortable. _He didn’t like the unsettling feeling he got from the man, and he wasn’t sure what to do. 

“Why, to know you better.” Narcissus huffed fondly. “You’re the new Gym Leader of a place very close to my heart. It’s been a long time since that Gym became lively.” 

“W-well, I…” Sena hesitated. “I don’t really wanna make Uncle Kabu worry. Could we, uh… could we reschedule?”

“Certainly.” Narcissus nodded graciously, and handed him a business card. “I’m rather busy myself, though, and perhaps the next best time for us to talk would be after you move into Derbyton.”

About a month to prepare. Sena had prepared for worse things in less time.

“Sure.” Sena nodded. “I’ll… keep you posted.”

Narcissus nodded, and turned to leave. “I’ll be off, then. Goodbye, Leader Sena.”

“S-see ya.” Sena nodded, and Narcissus strode away. He stood there, feeling a weight lift off his chest, and he turned to look at the glass door—

Only to realise that a shutter had gone down in front of it, closing off the enclosure for the night. Sena deflated, feeling his gut sink, and he shook his head. 

“See you guys next time, I guess.” He mumbled, and began to head home.

* * *

Leon bundled himself into his and Raihan’s flat with a heavy sigh. The therapy session had been emotionally exhausting—Leon managed to pour out his heart to Dr. Grana this time, and he felt a little better. They even addressed his ride on Eternatus the night before, and his therapist was relieved to see he handled the situation as well as he did. A step in the right direction, or something, but Leon did need to bury his face in a fluffy dog Pokémon’s belly after the session, and luckily, Dr. Grana’s husband had been wrangling his puppies upstairs while Leon was at his session. 

(Leon promised to keep Mr. Will’s smuggled Pokémon a secret. Hell, he didn’t even _ remember _ what they were called, but there was an _ adorable _little Rock-type puppy that Leon almost wished he could take home himself.)

He made a note on his Rotom to remind him to buy the husbands a bottle of wine. 

His own team (and what was left of Raihan’s team) were all at Hammerlocke tonight, save for Red, who was currently napping (or, at least, _ pretending _to nap, knowing him) in front of the telly when Leon came in. 

“Hey, Red.” Leon called tiredly, and Red _ very casually _lifted his head from the ground to look at him. His ruse was immediately up, though, when he saw the grocery bags hanging from Leon’s arms, and he got up, hurrying over to his trainer’s side to help him carry the rest. “Thanks, bud.”

Red groaned softly, and set the bags down on the counter. Leon dropped himself on the couch with a sigh, and peered at the balcony, where he could see a bag of Pokéfood turned on its side, its contents spilled out into Red’s bowl. There were a few Pidoves that were also feasting on the Pokéfood, and Leon laughed softly, shaking his head.

“You helped yourself to dinner, huh.” He said, and Red growled in acknowledgement. “How long did Villea clean the house?”

Red growled twice, and Leon hummed. “Two hours. The usual.” He yawned softly, and sank into the couch further. Red leaned over him, blinking curiously, and Leon smiled up at him. “I’ve already had dinner, don’t worry about me.” 

Red made a move to pick him up, but Leon shook his head. “No outside clothes on the bed. I’ll be fine here for tonight, I promise.” He turned to his phone. “Rotom, could you wake me up in an hour?”

“_Alarm set for—Incoming call! Incoming call!_”

“Huh?” Leon frowned, but he lit up when he saw it was Raihan. “Pick up! Pick up!” He said excitedly, and his TV screen lit up as his phone flew over to the TV to float in front of it. Raihan’s smiling face greeted him, and Leon could see sunlight streaming into Raihan’s windows, bathing his room in a warm glow. “Oh, Raihan. Hi.” He said warmly, and Raihan waved at him. 

“_Hey. I woke up a little earlier than usual, because my cute little monster wouldn’t stop crying._” He said, “_Niles—Cynthia’s butler—brought her up for me. Figured she’d stop crying if I was there, and lo and behold, he was right._”

“Cute little monster?” Leon echoed, and his eyes widened as Raihan raised a tubby little blue Pokémon to his camera. “Oh! It’s—it’s—”

“_This is our little baby girl._” Raihan cooed, “_I’m calling her Gibble, because that’s her species’ name._” 

“Gibble.” Leon nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling as the little Pokémon raised her stubby little arms, waving them at him. “Hi, baby.” 

“_That’s your other dad, Gibble._” Raihan said gently, and Leon felt his heart swell at the sound of his voice going so gentle. “_You’re gonna meet him in a year. How’s that?_”

Gibble giggled, and Leon felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. 

“Rai, she’s so cute.” Leon said softly.

“_Yeah?_” Raihan grinned. “_Did you know she’s actually shiny?_”

“Shiny!” Leon breathed. “You’re so lucky!”

“_I know._” Raihan laughed. “_We’re training her up every day so she can come with me when I start my journey. I was told she was a bit of a late bloomer so I might set out on my Gym Challenge with her still as a Gibble._”

“Will you be starting soon?”

“_Cynthia is predicting maybe in a month or so._” Raihan replied. “_I don’t blame her. There’s so many more Pokémon out here to learn about. It feels like diving into the deep end of a pool if I went out now._” His expression sobered up and he lifted Gibble to press a kiss to her head. “_It might take us a while to get out there._”

Leon smiled at him warmly. “I believe in you, Rai.”

“_Thanks._” Raihan grinned at him. “_I’m cheering you on, too. Let’s not lose sight of our end goals._”

“To repeal Dexit.” Leon nodded determinedly. 

“_To come home a Champion, and beat you._” Raihan replied. “_And finally—_finally_—marry you. _”

Leon teared up, and nodded. 

“I can’t wait to marry you.”

“_Me too._” Raihan sighed. “_You seem tired. How’d seeing Dr. Grana go?_”

“Really well.” Leon yawned, and Raihan laughed softly. 

“_That’s a sign that you should go to bed._” Raihan gave him a little wave. “_You can tell me about Dr. Grana in a few hours._”

“Yeah.” Leon smiled sheepishly, and laughed when Gibble tried to reach for him. “Sorry baby. I’ll see you later. Train hard with Daddy, okay?”

Gibble let out a garbled little coo. 

“I love you too, baby.” Leon smiled.

“_Love you too, Leon._” Raihan said, and Leon laughed softly. “_See ya in the morning._”

“I love you.” Leon said. “Bye for now.”

Leon hung up, humming happily as he lay back on the couch. 

“Oh, Raihan.” He sighed, pressing his phone to his heart. “I can’t wait. I really can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > EVERY GODDAMN TIME [pic.twitter.com/dhAxPiWue9](https://t.co/dhAxPiWue9)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1273096529650352129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> lemons is best boy. even if leon oneshotted him with calanthe during finals. also, yes. ilima was sena's ex. [dr. grana](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1271448983139803136?s=20) and [mr. will](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1271453730534117378?s=20) are, indeed, mr. and mr. lecter. thank you to [ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notavodkashot/pseuds/notavodkashot) (and [twitter!](https://twitter.com/notavodkashot)) user @notavodkashot for the hannigram push over the edge. this was super fun ^ q ^
> 
> emi on the other hand is from my beloved beta ([ao3 user @ziraulo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraulo/), [twitter user @AngInangReyna](https://twitter.com/AngInangReyna)) reyna who loves raihan and i said he had a string of exes and she was fine with being an ex if it meant raileon would eventually get married. mwah love u thanks for all your help
> 
> i KNOW that is not how police liaisons work. please do not tell me that is not how it works I KNOW IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY but please. let me have this freedom i am just basing this shit on goro akechi


	25. A Month Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Try not to have an adventure today. Just keep things nice and easy, okay?”
> 
> “Cynthia, I don’t attract adventure. That’s Leon’s thing, not me. The stuff of champions.”
> 
> She gave him a warm smile. “Isn’t that the idea?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > mustard: walk kubfu around, befriend it!  
me, bursting into tears: hold on i Gotta [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/ZRTv7UrpNk](https://t.co/ZRTv7UrpNk)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 19, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1273977442823110662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> it's act 2 babey i get to use a different title format now :3c
> 
> anyway!! i finished the DLC and i had so much fun, wah.... can't wait to write mustard into the story! THE DLC SAID TSBU RIGHTS AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M BEING FED SO WELL...... i'm confirming it now, the DLC is set between the end of swsh and before tsbu! rest easy that both avery and klara made it to their dream. 
> 
> **ISLE OF ARMOUR SPOILERS:** i can't believe the game itself confirmed that avery was secondary typed before i did LMAO i'd already had him lined up as a secondary type (and was planning on bringing him in sometime later!) but there we go! that's another secondary typed human. so far we have raihan, nessa, allister, kiawe, and now avery! there's a few more people with secondary types down the line... please look forward to them! and thank you so much to everyone who told me to look for avery's card! god, i wouldn't have known! 
> 
> anyway, act 2 is here! i can't believe it took me 100k++ words to reach it..... i hope you'll continue to enjoy this story!

**ONE MONTH LATER**

“_And that’s all I got so far._” Leon sighed. “_MC is keeping me busy, as always. Gloria’s school break doesn’t come until next month, so we haven’t had the time to investigate much more than Hammerlocke, essentially._”

“Anything I don’t already know?” Raihan asked, grinning slightly, and Leon shook his head, sighing exasperatedly. 

“_Well, repair work of the power plant is finally done._” Leon replied. “_It’s absorbing Galar particles again at full capacity, and just in time, too. Marnie wanted to get her Gym Trainers used to Dynamaxing._”

“Oh, neat.” Raihan nodded. “Keep it up, Chairman.”

Leon laughed tiredly, shaking his head as he buried his face into his pillow. Raihan laughed softly at that. “_Ugh. I’ve had enough of that this past week, thank you._” Leon groaned.

“Okay, fine. You’re doing great, Lee.” Raihan grinned, and Leon flipped him off. He burst out laughing at that, shaking his head, and in his lap, Gibble wiggled impatiently. He laughed, and waved at Leon. “Put that dirty thing away, Gibble’s here.”

“_Oh, Gibble!_” Leon cooed, and Raihan lifted the little Gible to let him see. “_There you are! Hi, baby!_”

Gibble let out a little garbled cry of a greeting, and Leon cooed at her as Raihan was content to sit back and watch. He smiled fondly as his Gible wiggled her arms up at Leon, as if wanting to be held by him, and he tutted, pulling her back.

“Sorry, baby.” He said, “Dad’s all the way across the pond.” He gave her a kiss to her head, as Leon nodded apologetically.

“_Sorry, baby._” He said, “_You’re just gonna have to deal with Daddy Cold Hands._” Leon snickered, and Raihan blew him a raspberry. “_Oh, shut up. You know it’s true._”

“Not in front of the baby,” Raihan said in a stage whisper, but all that managed was to make Leon laugh. He rolled his eyes, as Gibble looked up at him curiously, but he gave her a reassuring smile. “He’s just teasing me, Gibble. I’m your favourite dad, right?”

“_That’s not fair!_” Leon laughed, “_I’m all the way in Galar!_”

Raihan gave him a wink, and Leon sobered up. “_Oh, Galar._” He sighed, shaking his head. “_Elsie’s stolen Pokémon made it back to their trainers today._”

“Oh? How were they?”

“_Unfortunately, not that great._” Leon admitted. “_They were a little worse off than the Pokémon we fought at the airport—they’d been with the Rocket Controller a little longer. MC’s already pledged to help with bereavement costs, if ever._”

“Damn.” Raihan frowned. “Any developments on the case?”

“_None so far, either. Detective Robin’s been trying to figure out who let Elsie and Johnie free—they’re still in jail, by the way—but he’s being blocked every chance he gets. I’ve been meeting with him at Locksley every so often to get updates on the case._”

“Sounds to me like you’ve got a proper spy case on your hands.” Raihan hummed, and Leon sighed. 

“_Yeah. I can only hope that it doesn’t escalate._” He grumbled.

Raihan smiled at him sympathetically. “What about the other Pokémon?” 

“_Well, some are faring better than others._” Leon replied, “_I’m happy to report that Pumpkin is recovering quite well. She’s currently with your father’s Flygon back in Hammerlocke._”

“Pumpkin.” Raihan echoed, and Leon flushed, jerking in alarm. 

“_Th-the… the, um. The Trapinch from before. The one that Elsie hurt._”

“Oh.” Raihan grinned, “Did you adopt her, Lee?”

“_I-I-I-I just,_” Leon stammered, “_Sh-she was… well, Charing Square couldn’t really keep her, an-and, well, Villea said Cereus looked a little… lonely, since all of Darude’s Trapinches are now out with new Trainers, a-and…_”

“Hey, relax.” Raihan laughed, and Leon huffed at him, pouting. “I’m glad you took her in. I bet Cereus would love another baby to take care of, and one that’ll actually _ stay._” 

“_Yeah._” Leon smiled, and Raihan blew him a kiss. “_Oh, come off it. How about you?_”

“We’re coming along.” Raihan nodded. “Gibble here learned a new trick today.” 

“_Oh?_”

“She can use Outrage!” Raihan said excitedly, and Leon’s eyes widened. “I _ know! _ So _ that _was what Cynthia meant when she said Gibble was a bi—” he paused, and looked at Gibble. “Uh. She was so hard to breed.” 

Leon leered at him, and Raihan blew him a raspberry. “But yeah. Gave us a nasty surprise. Cynthia’s Altaria got a pretty nasty shock when she got knocked right out of the sky.” 

“_Wow._” Leon breathed. “_How’d the battle go?_”

“Well, still not that great.” Raihan laughed sheepishly. “Gibble can’t reliably do Outrage just yet, so she got knocked out. Still, I think we’re close to beating Cynthia.”

“_And then, the Sinnohan League._” Leon nodded determinedly, and Raihan nodded. 

“Won’t be long now.” He agreed. “Cynthia also mentioned that she might need to leave me alone in a little while, so I better hurry up and get out of this mansion.” Raihan grinned, and Leon cocked his head at him. “She’s currently working with one of Professor Rowan’s students, they’re chasing down this lead on an ancient site that was supposedly buried underneath the ground centuries ago.”

“_Ooh, that sounds like your kind of thing, too._”

“Sorta.” Raihan shrugged. “I’ve gotta focus on the League, though.”

Leon blew him a raspberry. “_I know you, Rai. You want to go see that too._”

“Yeah, fine.” Raihan laughed, shaking his head, and Leon beamed at him. “I did mention to Cynthia that I wanted to come see it if they ever find it.” He explained. “She promised me she’ll bring me along when they do.” Raihan grinned. “Who knows, maybe they’ll have me around when they open it.”

“_I sure hope they would._” Leon replied. “_You love that sort of thing._”

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed, sitting back against the headboard of his bed. “We’ll see. If she starts pop quizzing me on Sinnohan history, I’m going to start retaliating with the fact she’s never been to see Galar.” 

“_Oh, don’t remind me._” Leon groaned. “_I promised to take her on a Rapidash Tour when we fought in the semis at Kalos…_”

“She still wants to look around.” Raihan replied. “Though, I think, with _ me, _this time.”

“_Ugh, history nerds._” Leon made a show of rolling his eyes, and Raihan gave him a wink. 

“You’re gonna put a ring on one, babe. Deal with it.”

Leon couldn’t help but laugh at that. “_Fair enough. I should start getting ready for work._”

“Can I watch?” Raihan purred, and Leon wagged his finger at him. 

“_Not in front of the baby._” He said, winking at Raihan, and the dragon couldn’t help but grin like a loon. “_I’ll see you tomorrow, Raihan._”

“Yes, sir.” Raihan purred. “And next time, I won’t be bringing the baby along.”

“_Horny bastard._” Leon laughed, and Raihan burst out laughing, too. Leon rolled his eyes, and gave him a wave. “_I love you._”

“Love you too.” Raihan blew him a kiss, and Leon’s smile softened on him. “See you tomorrow.”

“_Bye._” Leon nodded, and hung up. Raihan sighed, setting his phone down, and he looked at Gibble, who looked forlornly at Raihan’s phone. 

“Sorry, baby. Dad’s gone for today.” He said gently. “We’ll see him tomorrow.” 

Gibble turned to look at him, and clamped her jaw a few times petulantly. Raihan laughed, shaking his head as he hugged her close. 

“C’mon, now. We’re going to bed.”

She squirmed in his arms, and he huffed, letting her go. She wriggled out from Raihan’s embrace, and he frowned, watching her waddle to the edge of the bed—and look back at him expectantly. 

“You, uh… do you need to go?” He asked, gently helping her down to the ground, but he did a double-take when she completely ignored the bathroom to head to the window. She jumped up and down, looking up at the window as she reached for it, and Raihan frowned in thought. He got up, making his way over to her. “Gibble. What the hell are you doin—” he stopped himself when he looked out the window, and he lit up to see a familiar Swablu sitting on the windowsill. “Oh, it’s you!”

He picked Gibble up with one arm, and undid the window latch with his free hand. The Swablu hopped into the room, and Raihan grinned at it, stroking its head gently. It cooed happily, snuggling into Raihan’s palm, and he huffed.

“So you were the one my little Gibble was looking at.” He murmured, and looked down at Gibble, who was staring at the Swablu intently. “I have no idea if you’re its natural predator, Gibble, but I want you to behave. Can you do that for daddy?”

Gibble nodded absently, staring at the Swablu. She reached out for it, and the Swablu graciously held out its wing, letting the little baby Pokémon hold it. Her eyes sparkled with wonder, and Raihan laughed as the Swablu seemed to huff proudly. 

“Oh, you’re a little vain, aren’t you?” He hummed, scratching the Swablu’s head, and it cooed again. “You know, I’m gonna be catching one of you in the wild someday to help me on my journey.” Raihan said, and it looked up at him, cocking its head. “I dunno if you’re actually the Swablu I met when I got here, but when that day comes.. I wonder if you’ll let me take you with me.”

It blinked at him blankly, and he shook his head. 

“Give it time.” He said gently, and gestured at his bed. “Gibble and I were just about to go to bed. Did you want to come over like last time?”

The Swablu nodded, and Raihan nodded, striding away from the window. “I’ll leave it open for you if you wanna head out like last time. I have no idea how you managed to close the window, lil’ guy. I don’t think your species can learn moves like Psychokinesis…” 

He shook his head, setting Gibble down on top of his sheets before climbing in himself. He tucked the little Pokémon against his body next to him, and he looked up at the Swablu as it fluttered over to him, making a nest out of his dreads without hesitation. He laughed softly, reaching up to pet it again, before stroking Gibble slowly to soothe her to sleep, too. 

“Geez, you two are a handful.” He said fondly. “I bet it’ll be fun to go on a journey with you.”

Swablu cooed, and like before, began to sing. Raihan could feel himself grow sleepy, and wondered if the Pokémon was using a move on him.

Odd, that wild Pokémon would be inclined to use these types of moves on humans, but then again, Raihan _ was _fundamentally different from most humans. 

Maybe it was just trying to be helpful. Raihan could only wonder _ why. _

* * *

“You slept really well last night, didn’t you!” Cynthia called, waving at Raihan cheerfully as he passed her for the third time that morning, Gibble and Gooms trailing after him, Gladiolus lagging far behind. He shrugged as he passed her by, and went for another lap, accepting the bottle of water she tossed at him. “Look at you! That’s your fourth lap, and it’s barely through the morning!”

“I dunno,” He panted, taking a heavy swig of water, before tossing it back to Cynthia, who was now across the yard he was running around, and she caught it easily. “I think I—_huff_—got a move used on me last night.”

“A move?” Cynthia echoed, cocking her head, and she jumped when Gibble veered off course, jumping into her lap with a whine. Gooms dropped onto the middle of the track with a whine of her own, looking at her pleadingly. “Oh, darling. Come over here, let your trainer finish off his training, you can take a break now.” 

Gooms sighed tiredly, and jumped as Gladiolus finally caught up to her, looking about as exhausted as she was. Cynthia waved them over, and the two Pokémon made their way to her sluggishly. 

“Yeah, a move!” Raihan called from where he was, about two-thirds of the way done with his lap. “The—_huff_—remember the Swablu that came—_huff_—into my room when I—_huff_—arrived here?”

“Uh huh?” Cynthia replied, getting up from her white garden bench to meet Gooms and Gladiolus halfway. “It came back?”

“Yeah!” Raihan panted, slowing to a jog as he approached her and his Pokémon. He came to a halt in front of them, gently ushering Gladiolus and Gooms onward, until Gooms gratefully dropped herself into an inflatable pool filled with water. Gladiolus sat down in a repurposed children’s sandbox next to Cynthia’s Garchomp, who growled sympathetically at him. Raihan picked up his towel from the table next to Cynthia’s bench, and quickly towelled himself down. “Anyway. Swablu came back, and I realised that it sang me to sleep.”

“It used Sing?” Cynthia blinked. “Well, _ that’s _not unheard of, Pokémon using moves on humans… I mean, Jigglypuff use it all the time…”

Raihan bit his lip, and Cynthia raised an eyebrow at him. “Wait, I can remember this.” He said, and she grinned, sitting back in her seat as she patiently waited for him, setting Gibble down on her lap. “Okay. Um. Fairy-type. Round, pink thing.”

“Good job.” Cynthia nodded. “Anyway, Jigglypuffs tend to use Sing on people, but I suppose it’s mostly an accident, rather than on purpose…”

“Huh.” Raihan hummed, and she frowned. 

“I can only think of Pokémon like Hypno and other Pokémon like that who would use moves on humans, but mostly for predatory functions.” Cynthia said. “Never to, uh… soothe people to sleep. That sounds new.”

“Right?” Raihan frowned, crossing his arms. “It’s strange, even for a wild Pokémon.”

“So are you gonna catch it?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan shrugged.

“Only if it’ll let me.” He replied, and she smiled at him fondly. His cheeks darkened in embarrassment, and he turned away from her. “Anyway. What’re we doing today?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could take a break.” Cynthia replied, and Raihan turned to look at her, eyes wide in surprise. “Oh, don’t give me that look. I know how hard you’ve been working this past month, but I don’t want you burning yourself out.”

“I’m fine!” Raihan insisted. “We can keep training today.”

“Raihan!” Cynthia said sternly, and he clamped his lips shut, half-pouting. “I understand that you want to jump right into the League, but you know as well as I do that you need to train more.” She sat up straighter in her seat, and Raihan deflated. “As Chairman of the League, I know how you’ll be treated when you enter the League. You and I both know it won’t be the same as the other children you’ll be taking this journey with.”

Raihan bit his lip.

“You’ll be treated as the Gym Leader you are.” Cynthia said. “Full six-Pokémon teams, free switching. They won’t be holding back, it’ll be like facing yourself, eight times in a row.” She counted with her fingers, one by one. “Rock, Grass, Ghost, Fighting, Water, Steel, Ice, and Electric. While I’m confident in the fact you’ll no doubt perform well against some of these, considering your team, I’m also concerned about the fact that you do, essentially, only have _ four _ Pokémon. Raihan, Sena may have won the Ranking Tournament with a team of four, but you have to become _ Champion._”

“I know.” Raihan mumbled, and Cynthia’s expression softened on him. 

“So just… just take a break, okay?” She said, gentler this time. “Go run around in the forest behind us. Go swimming. Have some fun.” 

Raihan looked sheepish, and she chuckled fondly. “I mean it. Take your mind off things for just today. Tomorrow, we’ll get right back on training and you’ll be even better than before.”

“I guess.” Raihan sighed, shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. Cynthia smiled at that, and he looked at her fondly. “Got it, Coach. I’ll take a break today.”

“You might want to bring Gibble along with you.” She said, patting the sleepy little thing on her lap gently. “Spend some more time with her, and all that.”

“She already cockblocks Leon and I.” Raihan rolled his eyes, and Cynthia burst out laughing. Gibble jolted awake on her lap, and she lay back against the bench, sighing happily as Gibble began to squirm against her loose hold on her. Raihan shook his head fondly, and picked up the squirmy little Gible. “You!” He snuggled her warmly, “Are a _ handful!_”

Gibble cheered happily in his arms, and Cynthia smiled at the both of them. “Well, it just so happens that Niles has packed you a nice picnic lunch for today.” Raihan looked at her flatly, grinning wryly. “Yes, I had this all planned out. You better take this time to bond with Gibble a whole lot.” She got up, and patted Raihan’s shoulder. “And take it easy, while you’re at it. I’ll get Gooms, Darude and Gladdie back into the barn with the rest.” 

Raihan shook his head, laughing softly, and Cynthia smiled, holding her hand out at him. He made a show of reluctantly handing her the three Ultra Balls he had on him, and she nodded, huffing firmly. 

“Well, I guess you should have a shower first, so you’re nice and fresh before you go.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Raihan waved at her, and began making his way back to the mansion, away from her.

“Oh, and Raihan?”

“Hm?” He hummed loudly, though he didn’t look at her over his shoulder. 

“Try not to have an adventure today. Just keep things nice and easy, okay?”

Raihan peered at her over his shoulder, grinning lopsidedly. “Cynthia, I _ don’t _ attract _ adventure. _ That’s Leon’s thing, not me. The stuff of champions.”

She gave him a warm smile. “Isn’t that the idea?” She said gently, and Raihan paused. He peered at her, and she cocked her head at him. His cheeks darkened, and he turned away, mumbling to himself as he made a beeline for the door back into the mansion. Cynthia giggled to herself, shaking her head as Darude landed heavily next to her, finally tired out from flying. He looked at his trainer as he strode back into the manor, and she gently pulled Darude’s head close, stroking it gently to reassure him. 

“He’ll be okay.” She said, as Gladiolus came up to her, looking at her inquisitively. “He’s got what it takes.” 

Darude and Gladiolus shared a worried look, but reluctantly acquiesced. This would be the first time they would be apart from Raihan, they knew, but they trusted him.

The alpha dragon of a man their trainer was would not bow to the whims of the world. The world would do well to bow to _ him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > SNIPS IS HOME!!!!! SENA'S TEAM IS COMPLETE!!! [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/e7hqCioQvO](https://t.co/e7hqCioQvO)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1273585794796511233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> I _really_ don't want this to be the _only_ thing i write this year!!!
> 
> on other news, I'VE CAUGHT ALL THE POKEMON ON SENA'S TEAM!!!! i'm so happy emolga came in batch one LMAO i'll complete raihan's final tsbu team when the crown tundra comes out!!


	26. Blow Forth, Sandstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How could you know what I’m going through?” 
> 
> “Because I know the feeling; I’m just like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > the RANGE...... KING [pic.twitter.com/WDlU7eQtIV](https://t.co/WDlU7eQtIV)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1277174538350936065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> Get You A Man Who Can Do Both
> 
> **UNHINGES MY JAW AND RELEASES AN UNGODLY ELDRITCH SCREECH INTO THE SKY.** [ANIME RAIHAN IS HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1277174296947814404?s=20) I FEEL SO ALIVEEEEEE 
> 
> god i got so excited i decided to update ^ q ^ ;;; anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter!!
> 
> **CONTENT WARNING:** attempted human trafficking, harm to a minor, wildlife poaching, lots of introspective trauma here lads. oof.

“Hm? Gibble?” 

Raihan sat up, smiling to himself when he saw his little Gible looking up at the canopy of trees overhead. “Hey. What’s up?” He asked gently, stroking her head, and she pointed at the way a sliver of light passed between the trees above their heads. “Oh, that? That’s called crown shyness.” Raihan picked the baby Pokémon up, and rested her on his lap, absentmindedly stroking her head as he continued. “You see…”

His own explanation filtered through the quiet in his mind, and Raihan had to admit that this was, indeed, really relaxing. The thicket he and Gibble were in reminded Raihan of several lovely little pockets of peace back on the Isle of Armour, and he couldn’t help but smile, trailing off into silence as he thought about Leon.

“You know… there’s an island I used to go to.” He said, and Gibble looked up at him, clamping her jaw curiously. “Leon and I… we spent so many hours there, like an extension of the Wild Area, even though we had no idea what any of the Pokémon we encountered there were.” He sighed happily, chuckling fondly as he shook his head. “We’d go camping, telling stories and staying way up late in the night on that island, and it looked… _ exactly _like this.”

He lay back with a happy sigh, his eyes sliding shut as he thought back to the days when he and Leon trained zealously under Master Mustard’s guidance. Of course, Raihan was there for only the summers, when Hammerlocke University took breaks, but Leon was there for much longer, he knew. 

He could count the years he spent with Leon in camps, sleeping bags and under the blaze of stars, napping lazily on days like this one, with the sunlight streaming in delicate little strings of gold between the crown shyness above their heads. 

Leon lost his smile progressively as they grew up together, though Raihan had only known why when Leon was 18, and they finally admitted their feelings for each other on Alola. He sighed, shutting his eyes with a frown. 

“Oh, Leon.” Raihan sighed, and Gibble cooed sympathetically. “You know, sometimes I think it’s getting easier, being apart from him.” He admitted, “But then the littlest reminder of him just…” Raihan hesitated, trailing off into silence. Gibble whined sadly, and cuddled his arm. “I know, baby. It’s been ten years of just… _ us, _ and now… suddenly all that’s just _ gone. _ It’s gonna take some time getting used to, that’s for sure.”

Gibble clamped her jaw gently, and Raihan laughed. “You’ll love him. He’s fantastic, and he’s gonna love you too. He’s got his own big family of Pokémon I’d _ love _for you to meet. His own dragons, too!” 

Gibble burbled questioningly, and Raihan shook his head.

“Excluding me, you silly thing.” He chuckled, poking her snout. She wiggled it slightly, and he grinned at her. “Anyway, do you wanna move on elsewhere or do you wanna stay here a little longer?”

Gibble jumped slightly, jerking upright, and Raihan’s smile slid off his face. “Gibble?” He asked, and she leapt off his lap, looking around with wide, alert eyes. Raihan quickly got onto his feet, gathering their things together into the backpack Cynthia had him bring with them. Gibble began to growl at the darkness of the bushes beyond them, and Raihan steeled himself, settling down into a ready stance. 

He may not know how to fight without a weapon (fencing was a thing of his home-schooled past, but he still had the muscle memory for it), but he certainly knew how his dragon blood would give him an advantage over most Normal-typed humans. Gibble was on all fours now, snarling, her claws digging into the ground as she primed herself to dive into the dirt. 

“Out.” Raihan snarled, his eyes thinning into slits, his hands balling into fists. “_Now._”

“H-hold on, I promise, I-I’m not—I’m not dangerous.” A little girl’s voice came from the bushes, and Raihan eased up when he saw a dark-skinned little girl with her curly hair up in a pair of messy buns crawl out from under the bushes. Gibble seemed unsure, but Raihan calmed down somewhat, squatting down to meet her eye to eye as she straightened up, showing Raihan the injured female Combee in her arms. Raihan’s eyes widened, and he quickly gestured for her to come closer. 

“What happened to her?” He asked urgently, digging around his bag for a Sitrus berry. The little girl sat down in front of him with a tired sigh. 

“I was… I was playing with a nearby Vespiquen’s colony.” She said. “And then… these weird people came along.”

“Weird people?” Raihan echoed, finally finding the berry he was looking for, and held it out to the girl on the palm of his hand. “Here. Give it to the Combee.”

“Her name is Honey.” The girl mumbled, “I’m Aphis.” 

“Sorry. Uh.” Raihan felt his cheeks burn. “I’m Raihan. This is Gibble.” He gestured at his little Gible, who was looking up at Aphis curiously. “Sorry I was a little… uh.” 

Aphis grinned at him, and lit up when her Combee finally managed to start flying again. “Oh, thanks! She’s okay!”

Raihan huffed, grinning softly as he nodded. “You’re welcome. Now, what were you talking about again? Strange people?”

“Uh, yeah.” Aphis said, nodding. Her messy buns came a little more undone, and Raihan clicked his tongue. 

“Okay, come here and let me sort that out for you while you tell me what happened.” He said, and Aphis reluctantly let him, turning around as he knelt up, pulling out her hair ties gently. 

“Well, I was at Honey’s Vespiquen’s hive, like I always was.” She said, and Raihan tried not to hesitate in shock. Hanging out with Vespiquen? Weren’t they dangerous? “And these weird people came along. Big guys, I think one had torn sleeves or something, he was really weird.”

“Uh… huh.” Raihan hummed. “What were they doing?”

“They had these really big… uh, tube-thingies.” She said, and Raihan frowned again. “Nets came flying out of them, and they started rounding up all the Combees.” 

Raihan’s eyes widened, as realisation slammed right into him. “Poachers.” He breathed.

“What, like eggs?” Aphis asked, “That’s weird. Hey, you have a weird accent!”

Raihan shook his head, and quickly finished off fixing Aphis’s buns, before holding the little girl’s shoulders to turn her around. “Poachers, Aphis. They’re hunters, they hunt down and catch Pokémon to sell them to people.”

“What!” She gasped, “That’s not okay! They’re Honey’s friends!” Aphis huffed indignantly, and Raihan nodded encouragingly. “They came over and began to take everyone, even Honey’s Vespiquen! Honey and I managed to get away, but…” She looked at the Combee, which was currently resting on top of Gibble’s head, looking up at the two humans pleadingly. “We can’t save them ourselves.”

“We’ll help.” Raihan said determinedly, and the little girl looked up at him in alarm. He gave her a grin, and jabbed his thumb at himself and Gibble. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna be the Champion of the Sinnoh League. I swear, we’re gonna get your friends back.”

Aphis lit up, nodding enthusiastically. “Thank you so much, big bro!” She cheered, and she hugged Raihan delightedly. The young man laughed, holding her steady, and gently set her down on the ground as he got up. Aphis gaped up at him as he towered over her, and when he offered her his hand, she took it dazedly. “Whoa, you’re so tall… you’re like an Exeggutor!” 

Raihan paused, remembering the Exeggutor back on Alola, and he burst out laughing, wiping a tear from his eye as Aphis giggled along with him, her Honey and Gibble giggling together at their delighted trainers’ reactions. 

“Nice one, kid.” He said, after he calmed down. “Now, do you remember which way they went?”

“Well… not really.” Aphis admitted. “Honey and I had to hide after she nearly fainted, so we couldn’t see where they went.”

“Oh.” Raihan frowned, but Aphis shook her head. 

“But I think I have a pretty good idea on how to find them!” She said, and tugged on Raihan‘s hand. “C’mon! Follow me!”

“Wait!” Raihan laughed, picking up his backpack and shrugging it on. He picked up Gibble with one arm, too, and nodded at her. “Okay. Let’s go.”

* * *

The clearing Aphis took him to was not unlike the Honeycalm Island back on the Isle of Armour. His expression fell at the sight of broken honeycombs and spilled, sparkling honey, and he looked at Aphis as she slowed down in front of him, looking up at the large tree in the middle of the clearing. 

“Aphis…” he said gently, and the little girl stood still, her Combee friend comfortingly cuddled against her cheek. 

“It… didn’t look like this when we ran away.” She said quietly. 

Raihan bit his lip. _ They came back. _

Aphis peered at him over her shoulder, and he strode up to her side, setting Gibble down gently first before he patted her shoulder. 

“You okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah.” She mumbled. “I’m…” she shook her head, and steeled herself. “The Combees play hide and seek with me all the time. I always was the one doing the seeking, because I was so big, but I always found them easily.”

“Really?” Raihan asked. “Why?”

“I dunno.” Aphis shrugged. “I could… _ smell _ them, I guess? They always smell kinda funny.”

Raihan blinked at her, as the little girl closed her eyes. He remembered his current studies—the review of all species of Pokémon in and out of Galar, and he remembered the entry for Vespiquen. 

“Pheromones?” He mumbled. “That… that’s… that can’t be right.”

“It’s this way.” Aphis said, and Raihan nodded, following after the little girl as they strode away from the clearing. He watched her carefully as she sniffed around, and he realised her Combee was doing the same. 

Oh, _ Arceus, _ he thought. She _ was _tracking them by pheromone. 

Raihan took a sniff—and caught not a single strange whiff. Aphis looked up at him confusedly, and he gave her an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry. I was just wondering what you were smelling.” He shrugged. “Curious.”

Aphis pouted. “You can say you think I’m weird, y’know. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Really?” Raihan asked, crossing his arms. “Why?”

The little girl hesitated, and sighed. “Ever since I was little, I’ve always been able to smell Bug-type Pokémon. Not just the Combee and Vespiquen.” She admitted, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “People thought I was weird or I was crazy. My parents took me to a doctor, but there was nothing wrong with me. I could just smell Bug-type Pokémon, and that was it.”

“R-really…” Raihan said faintly. 

The sinking feeling in his chest grew. Could this girl be…?

“And, well, I used to not do this, but these days I always bunch myself up in my sheets like a cocoon. My mom said I’ll grow out of it eventually, but I dunno…” Aphis hummed. 

Raihan blinked at her. 

“I get along with Bug-type Pokémon really well, but people… not so much.” Aphis rubbed her arm awkwardly. “Sometimes, I think there’s something really wrong with me.”

_ Bug secondary type. _

“Aphis, I…” he hesitated, and he shook his head. He knelt down in front of her, and held her arms firmly. “Listen to me. There’s nothing wrong with you, okay? You’re a little different than most people, but that doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you.”

She blinked up at him, and he felt his heart sink at the tears welling in her eyes. 

“How could you know what I’m going through?” She asked quietly, and Raihan sighed fondly. 

“Because I know the feeling.” He said, gently coaxing his dragon blood to life, and Aphis’s eyes widened when she saw Raihan’s eyes thin into slits. “Because I’m just like you.”

“Whoa…” she breathed. “What… are we?”

“Well, we’re a special kind of human, Aphis.” Raihan said. “We’re what scientists call secondary-typed people.”

“Secondary type?” She echoed. “Like… like a Pokémon?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Like a Pokémon. A lot of people in the world are Normal-type, and they don’t have any special powers, but you and I do.”

Realisation dawned in Aphis’s eyes. 

“I’m a Bug-type!” She gasped. 

“That’s right.” Raihan nodded patiently. “And I’m a Dragon-type.” He gave her a kind smile. “So don’t be afraid of what you can do. It’s a part of you, just like your Normal-type side.”

“Uh… okay.” The little girl nodded. “I’ll—I’ll try.”

“That’s the spirit.” Raihan chuckled, patting her head. “Now, you’re the only person who can find the Pokémon poachers, Aphis. I’ll take care of the battling—you take care of the finding. Deal?”

“Deal!” Aphis nodded, brightening up with a lovely grin. “C’mon! Follow me!”

Raihan nodded, straightening up. He looked at Gibble’s ball, which was currently strapped to his belt, and he petted it gently. 

“I’m counting on you too, Gibble.” He said quietly, and ran onward after Aphis.

* * *

They found a little clearing with a tent set up in the area, and Raihan held Aphis back behind him as they approached cautiously. It didn’t seem like much—there was only one poacher out cooking curry by a campfire, but Raihan wasn’t about to lower his guard. 

“Big bro,” Aphis hissed, and he hushed her gently. Quietly they made their way around the camp, and found a large cage with all of the Combee inside. The Vespiquen was in a different cage, looking beaten-up, and Raihan hissed in sympathy, while Aphis clung onto his jacket hem. “No! She’s hurt…”

“She was beating up the cage bars, I bet.” Raihan murmured. “C’mon, this way. I have an idea.”

Aphis nodded, and Raihan led her to a small bush behind the camp. 

“Okay, when I give the signal, you and Honey take cover.” He said, and Aphis looked affronted. 

“Hey! You said we have special powers! I wanna help!” She countered, and Raihan hurriedly hushed her, pulling her down underneath the bushes to hide from anyone who could look their way. 

“Shh!” He hissed, “We can’t let them hear us.”

Aphis pouted at him, and crossed her arms. 

“And besides, this is as far as I’m willing to put you in danger.” He said. “You’re just a little girl, Aphis. Secondary typing or no, I want you safe, and that means out of the way.”

Raihan patted her head. “Please do that for me.”

She huffed at him, and he looked at her Combee. “Buddy, you gotta keep her safe, alright?” He asked, and Honey bounced in agreement. Raihan looked at Aphis one last time, and hurried away. 

“This sucks.” Aphis huffed, and Honey looked at her inquisitively. “C’mon, Honey. We’re helping Mr. Raihan whether he wants us to, or not!”

* * *

“Yes. I know. He’ll be ready soon, I have the full confidence that he will be.” 

Cynthia huffed, dropping herself down on her plush rolling chair in her office, crossing her leg over the other. 

“Well—yes, but…” She paused, listening, and frowned. “No. Not like that, try again. Yes.” 

She swiveled her chair around left and right, listening carefully to the other side of the line, when she spotted a strange little shape in her window out of the corner of her eye. Cynthia’s blood went cold in her veins—it wasn’t the first time she’d had to deal with a stalker staring into her window, but she could never get over the fear that seized her whenever it happened. She jumped, her heart lodging her throat, but the eyes she thought that were staring at her turned out to be a fluffy little Swablu. 

It pecked at her window insistently, and Cynthia sighed, shaking her head. 

“_Miss Cynthia? You alright?_”

“Let’s talk about this some other time.” She sighed. “I have something to take care of.”

“_Well, as long as you make it within the month, we’ll be fine. Until next time._”

“Until next time.” She sighed, hanging up, and she got up, opening the window to pet the Swablu gently. “Jeez. Hello there, little Swablu. I don’t suppose you’re Raihan’s friend?”

Her phone suddenly rang again, and she rolled her eyes. “What is it _ this _time, I just hung up…” She swiped at her phone screen without bothering to check. “Hello?”

“_Cynthia,_” Raihan’s voice said, and she froze. “_I’m in trouble._”

She looked at the Swablu, who nodded determinedly, hopping up into the air. 

“_I’m going to be sending my coordinates via location update on our messenger apps. You might want to bring Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny along._”

“Raihan.” She breathed, but the younger trainer hung up. Cynthia bit her lip, and she looked at the Swablu. “Can you take me to him?” She asked it, and it nodded. 

“Good.” She nodded, pulling out her Garchomp’s ball from her pocket, and pressed a kiss to it gently. “Let’s go, Bellona.”

She deployed her Garchomp outside, and she roared powerfully into the sky, looking at the Swablu intently. The smaller Pokémon nodded, and began to fly away. Bellona huffed, and she looked at her trainer. 

Cynthia nodded, and leapt out the window, landing on her Garchomp's back, as they sped away into the forest after the Swablu, Cynthia already on her phone, waiting for Officer Jenny to pick up.

* * *

“You know, that is the shoddiest curry job I’ve seen in ages.” 

The poacher looked up from his pot of curry, his eyes widening at the sight of Raihan striding out from the trees, his Gible at his heels. The man’s eyes narrowed on him, and he stanced up, kicking dirt into the campfire underneath the pot to put it out. 

“I’d suggest adding more than just Liechi berries to the mix, to make it more interesting.” He continued, and—just as he expected—two more poachers emerged from the tent, stalking him angrily. “You won’t get any friendlier with the Pokémon you got there in those big cages. That batch certainly isn’t big enough.”

“Who the hell are you?” One of them snarled, pulling out a Pokéball from his harness. 

“Hey, hey, I’m just a guy with a little baby Gibble.” Raihan smiled pleasantly, raising his hands defensively, though Gibble hid behind his legs as he came to a stop in the middle of the camp. “If you ask me, I’m a bit of a curry connoisseur, considering I’ve been cooking it myself for 10 years.”

“Well, we’re not the fancy sort.” Another poacher said, also pulling out his own Pokéball. “So I suggest you scram, boy, if you don’t want any trouble.”

“Why?” Raihan’s pleasant smile warped into a feral smirk. “When you poachers _ stole _a whole colony of Combee?”

“You.” The eldest-looking one, the last to leave the tent, snarled, and released a Drapion into the campsite, right in front of Raihan. Raihan didn’t budge, staring the Drapion down as its trainer stalked towards him. “Don’t you know who you’re crossing, you twerp?”

“Hardly a twerp, considering I’m towering over you.” Raihan drawled, taking a step back as Gibble rushed to stand between him and the Drapion. 

Two other Pokémon were deployed—a Skuntank, and a reddish, hound-like Pokémon. Raihan knew about this one, even if it was banned in Galar—a Houndoom. 

“Think you’re all that with that tiny Pokémon you got there?” The leader—well, he _ assumed _ he was the leader, considering how bloody _ mouthy _he was—snarled. “I bet a fancy city boy like you has never seen a Skuntank and a Houndoom before.”

“Actually, an ex-girlfriend had one. Illegally.” Raihan said, and shook his head. “_Much _scarier than this one, I’m afraid. The old thing scared her whole town into thinking she was a ghost dog.”

“Uh.” One of the poachers looked at his boss. “Boss, this one’s a weirdo.”

Raihan snorted. “I was _ trying _ to have a decent conversation, but the sheer _ arrogance _of some people.” He looked at Gibble. “Sandstorm!”

The little Gible reared up her head, and roared powerfully into the sky. A sandstorm suddenly kicked up, and Raihan was quick to cover his nose and mouth, lowering the pair of goggles he hid under his headband to see through the sandstorm. The three poachers let out shouts of alarm as Gibble quickly looked at Raihan expectantly. 

“Use Dragon Rage!” He ordered, and she dove into the sandstorm, slamming into the Houndoom with a mighty _ bang. _It dropped to the ground like a stone, and Raihan grinned at the critical hit. 

“What the—Houndoom!”

“Keep up the pace, Gibble! Tackle the Skuntank!”

Gibble was lightning-fast, charging at the Skuntank—

“Drapion! Sunny Day!”

Raihan’s eyes widened, as the sandstorm died down, and Gibble dropped to the ground like a stone. The Skuntank was quick to charge at her, grabbing her arm and launching her into the air. 

“Gibble!” Raihan shouted, his heart shooting to his throat as his eyes thinned into slits. Gibble began to fall, and the Drapion quickly snatched her by its claw and slammed her into the ground. Raihan winced, hissing in pain as Gibble let out a pitiful-sounding cry. 

“Ain’t so tough now, aren’t you?” The leader drawled, smirking cockily as he sauntered closer to his Drapion, who held down Gibble firmly against the ground, jaw up to keep her from digging into the dirt. “Oh, look at you. A shiny! Why, this isn’t what we’re looking for, but this’ll definitely give us a pretty penny!”

A furious, draconic _ rage _bubbled in Raihan’s blood. 

_ Not our hatchling! _ The dragon in his blood roared in the ebb of his pulse in his ears. _ Not our hatchling! _

He balled his hands into tight fists, his nails digging crimson crescent moons into his palm. 

“Not on my watch!” He snarled, his voice taking on an otherworldly timbre, his eyes thinning into slits. The three poachers jolted, trembling somewhat, when the eldest one recovered quickly. 

“Oh, you’re one of _ those _freaks, aren’t you?” He leered, striding closer to Raihan.

The term shocked Raihan into a startled clarity—_freaks? _

“Those weird humans with secondary typing. Closer to Pokémon than man.” He pulled out a collar from a bag slung over his shoulder. “You could get us even _ more _ money. Got a pretty face, too.”

Raihan snarled, snapping at him, when the Skuntank suddenly charged at him, knocking him onto the ground and pinning him into place. He roared angrily, squirming against the large Pokémon’s grip as the poacher laughed at him. 

“Now that I think about it, you kinda look familiar. I think I’ve seen you on the news before.”

“Let him go!” 

Raihan’s blind draconic rage dissipated at the sound of Aphis’s voice. His head jerked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the little girl standing at the edge of the clearing, her Combee fluttering bravely by her side. 

“N-no! No! Aphis—no!” He struggled harder against the Skuntank’s weight, “Aphis—Aphis, get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving you!” She insisted. “Honey, please use—”

“_They know about us!_” Raihan screamed. Her eyes widened, and the poacher laughed. 

“Oh ho! Another one! Now that’s a lucky haul, if I’ve ever seen one!”

“_Run!_” 

Aphis turned to leave—

“Drapion, Torment!”

Aphis’s scream shocked Raihan into a primal, gut-wrenching instinct that he’d never felt before. For a moment, he was nothing _ but _a dragon, and a terrifying white-rage enveloped him as a furious howl escaped his throat. 

His fingernails dug into the Skuntank’s paws, earning him a shocked whimper, before he bodily lifted it off the ground, flipping it over before he slammed it onto the ground. The two other poachers screamed in horror as he got up, and the Drapion quickly let Gibble go to protect its trainer. 

“I won’t forgive you!” He roared, as Gibble shot to her feet, trembling slightly from the force of Raihan’s draconic rage. “Gibble—_destroy him!_”

The blue flame of Dragon Rage surrounded the little Gible, and she charged at the Drapion, knocking it aside. He glowered at the poacher, who looked up at him in terror as he stalked closer. 

“_You._” His voice was a low rumble, as he grabbed the man by the throat. 

“Wait! No! Please, I’m—”

“_You deserve no mercy!_”

“No! I’m not ready—I don’t want to die, I—”

A sandstorm began to gather around them, and the poacher looked _ terrified _as Raihan glared him down. Gibble returned to her trainer, feeling the same rage as he was, and she stared him down, her jaw ajar and ready to snap. 

“_You _ don’t want to die?” Raihan laughed mockingly, as a sandstorm fully kicked up, flooding the world in a whirlwind of howling, screaming sand. “When you were so ready for _ us _to die?”

Faintly, he could hear the sound of Aphis, still screaming. It fuelled his rage, and his grip tightened. 

“I’ll fill your lungs with sand.” He snarled. 

Gibble jerked in alarm, and she looked up at her trainer. 

“Gib?” She breathed, and suddenly, the storm began to dissipate. She looked up, and lit up when a familiar Swablu came flying over, its mere presence erasing the sandstorm that was born out of Raihan’s rage. Gibble sighed in relief at the sight of Cynthia’s long blonde hair in the distance, and the sound of sirens finally snapped Raihan out of his trance. 

“Wh—what?” He breathed, letting go of the poacher, and he dropped to his knees, eyes wide in shock. “I… Gibble?”

“Gib!” Gibble sobbed, jumping into Raihan’s arms. He hugged her dazedly, as Cynthia, her Garchomp, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny came running over to him. 

“Oh! There you are!” Cynthia gasped, hurrying over to them, as Officer Jenny quickly got to work restraining the three poachers that had been trapped in Raihan’s sandstorm. The blonde dropped to her knees, cupping Raihan’s face in her hands as her Garchomp got to work on gathering the fainted Pokémon. “Raihan, are you alright?”

“I… I don’t… know what happened.” He said faintly, and the both of them jumped as Aphis’s screaming began anew. Cynthia’s Garchomp was struggling to keep her down, while Nurse Joy tried to calm the little girl down. “Aphis!” He screamed, getting up onto his feet, and he ran towards her. Gibble followed suit, and Cynthia picked her up, carrying her with her as she ran to Raihan’s side. 

“Aphis,” Raihan breathed, feeling tears burning the corners of his eyes. “Oh, fuck… _ Aphis._” He dropped down to his knees next to her as she thrashed and screamed in the Garchomp’s grip. The dragon looked at Raihan pleadingly as Nurse Joy met his gaze. 

“What happened to her?” She asked urgently. 

“She, uh…” Raihan winced. “She got… hit. With Torment.”

“A Pokémon move?” Cynthia breathed. “But that’s—that’s not…”

“I don’t know.” Raihan said faintly. “But she’s—she’s like me.”

“Like you?” Nurse Joy echoed, but Cynthia’s eyes widened in realisation. 

“Secondary type.” She breathed. 

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, and they all jumped when Aphis began jerking and screaming again against Garchomp’s grip. Gibble babbled in alarm as she jumped forward, doing her best to hold down Aphis’s hand, but to no avail. “Aphis!” he gasped, reaching for the girl’s other hand as she struggled and jerked. 

“It—it _ hurts!_” She sobbed, her grip white-knuckled on Raihan’s hand. “I hate—I _ hate _ this! I don’t wanna be—don’t—wanna be—Bug-type anymore! Why—why, Ar-Arceus—I’ve—I’m not—I haven’t—why am I being _ punished?_”

Raihan looked like he’d been slapped, jerking back in shock as Nurse Joy took over his spot, Cynthia pulling him back away from the little girl. She held him in her arms comfortingly as Aphis continued to wail.

“I don’t—I never—_asked_—for this! I don’t—_want _ this! It’s _ not worth it!_”

Cynthia pulled Raihan’s head down into the crook of her neck. “She doesn’t mean it.”

“Take it back, _ take it back, takeitbacktakeitback_—”

Raihan shuddered, and Cynthia hugged him tighter. They jumped at the sound of buzzing, and Raihan looked up from Cynthia’s shoulder. He gasped when he saw Honey and her Vespiquen approaching them. “I—I’m so sorry. I tried, I…”

The Vespiquen shook her head, and pointed at the bushes, where Raihan left his bag. His eyes widened. “Oh, shit. You’re right.”

“Raihan?” Cynthia asked, watching him scramble to his feet. He ran to the bushes, and dug out his backpack. He rustled through it hastily, and pulled out a little mint green auto-injecting pen. “Oh!”

“Wait, is that… a GWeez?” Nurse Joy asked incredulously, as Raihan hurried back to them. “Those aren’t readily available yet!”

“I’m from Galar,” Raihan explained, and looked up at Cynthia’s Garchomp. “Could you lift her a little, girl?”

The Garchomp nodded, and lifted Aphis gently. She was mercifully still, sniffling softly as Raihan injected her with a GWeez, and they all heaved a sigh of relief when Aphis fell still. 

“Oh, thank goodness.” Nurse Joy sighed, slumping as she sat back. “I saw the efficacy study for these things—they’re almost miraculous.”

“Yeah, well, they were developed for me.” Raihan said, and turned to look at Aphis. “I… I hope this’ll be enough.”

“If I recall correctly, the Galarian Weezing is a Fairy-type, isn’t it?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan nodded. “Torment is a Dark-type move, so I think she’ll be just fine. It works on you because you’re a Dragon-type, right?”

“I suppose.” Raihan said faintly, and Nurse Joy patted his shoulder.

“Well, I suggest you get a bed rest, and to make sure you tell Officer Jenny _ everything _when she asks you.” She said, gesturing at the police officer as she bundled the poachers into her patrol mobile. “But I’ll get you a doctor’s note if you need it.” 

“Thanks, I’m fine.” Raihan said, and she nodded. She looked over at Cynthia. 

“Would it be alright if I asked your Garchomp to help load this little girl into my ambulance? We need to get her to a hospital soon.” 

“Of course.” Cynthia nodded once, and she looked at her Garchomp. “Go with her. You can find your way back home, right?”

The Garchomp nodded, and gently picked Aphis up. Raihan watched them go forlornly, and Cynthia squeezed his shoulder gently. Behind them, he could hear Officer Jenny releasing the Combees from their cage. 

“Raihan.” Cynthia said, and gently wrapped her hand around his, squeezing comfortingly. “She didn’t mean what she said.” 

“I know.” Raihan replied. “She was in so much pain.”

“She just clung onto what she believed in.” Cynthia nodded. “I’m sorry she thought it was Arceus punishing her, when none of this was her fault.”

Raihan hummed, and they stayed quiet for a moment. 

“Cynthia,” Raihan mumbled after a while, and the older woman hummed gently. “I almost killed a man.”

The blonde was quiet, but her gaze on Raihan was still as kind as ever. The dragon swallowed nervously, and gingerly hugged Gibble close to himself. 

“I… I went berserk, I think.”

“You think?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan shrugged, frowning.

“I don’t remember much in great detail. I saw Gibble get hurt, and that’s where it all started.”

“Hm.” Cynthia frowned thoughtfully. “Was that why you had that GWeez on you?”

“I always carry one around, just in case.” Raihan replied. “But _ this… _this was the first time something like that happened.”

“Why?” 

Raihan bit his lip. “I… I think it started with seeing Gibble get hurt. The dragon inside me was furious at these poachers for hurting her. She’s…” he hesitated, and shut his eyes.

“_My hatchling._” He hissed, his voice taking on an otherworldly timbre, and Cynthia’s eyes widened at him. Her hand began to shake involuntarily, and his expression fell. In his arms, Gibble began to cry, and he was quick to soothe her.

“See?” He said, and Cynthia took a shuddering breath, slumping back as she sat down. 

“Oh, whoa.” She breathed. “What’s… what just happened? Has that happened before?”

“No.” Raihan shook his head. “Back on Galar, I never went this bad, even in the face of extreme stressors…” He balled his free hand into a fist against Gibble’s back. “Even when my castle was falling apart, and there was a Legendary trying to tear the world apart on top of it, I never got… _ this bad._”

“I see.” Cynthia frowned. “I wonder why.”

“I don’t know.” Raihan grumbled, burying his face in his hands. “I… I hate this.”

Gibble whined sadly, reaching up to him. 

“Do you hate your secondary typing, too?” She asked, and Raihan’s hands tightened on his face. Cynthia hummed, and patted his knee. “Raihan, it’s a part of you. Whatever happened to you that made it stronger, you can’t let that drag you down.”

“I know.” Raihan said, “I just want to know _ why._”

Cynthia sighed. “There’s just some things we’ll never understand.” She peered at him kindly, and elbowed him lightly. “Or, at least, not yet.”

Raihan looked at her witheringly, and Gibble cooed comfortingly. He gave her a tired smile, and lifted her to kiss her nose. “I’m glad you’re alright, Gibble.”

“Me too.” Cynthia nodded. “Wow, what a training session she got, huh.” She said, and Raihan laughed wryly. “You know, we would never have been able to reach you and Gibble. You did the right thing, calling for me and Officer Jenny before diving into the camp, but when we came over to where your phone was broadcasting your location to us, we couldn’t quite reach you.”

“Why?” He asked. 

“The sandstorm.” She said, and smiled down at Gibble. “That was so impressive, baby! What a big storm!”

Gibble and Raihan shared worried glances, and Cynthia’s smile slipped off her face. 

“_Oh, no._” She breathed.

“Cynthia, _ I _caused the sandstorm.” Raihan said, and her eyes widened. 

“_You _ used a _ move?_” Cynthia gaped at him, and Raihan’s expression tightened. “Oh, wow. That’s… that’s unheard of, Raihan.”

“I know.” He looked down at his hands, and shuddered. “Am I… really more Pokémon than man?” He balled his hands into fists, and he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a teardrop roll down his cheek. “I don’t want… I don’t want to hurt Leon.”

Cynthia looked at him pitifully. “I… I’m sorry, Raihan, I don’t know how to help.”

“It’s…” Raihan took a shuddering breath. “It’s okay. I know you can’t.” 

Cynthia deflated, but she quickly lit up slightly when she spotted something beyond them. “You know, you’re very lucky.” She said, and Raihan looked up at her. “Someone’s looking out for you.” She nodded at something beyond them, and Raihan turned to see a Swablu sitting on the rim of the steadily-cooling, sandy curry pot. His eyes widened, and it hopped closer to them, cooing pleasantly. 

“Swablu.” Raihan breathed, and it chirped happily, flapping its wings. “You… you led them here.”

“It cleared the sandstorm, too.” Cynthia said, “I think it really, really likes you.”

Raihan’s eyes welled up with tears as it approached him, and he reached down to pet it. It snuggled against his palm happily, and Raihan choked back a sob.

“Aw, buddy.” He breathed, laughing sadly when it nipped at his palm slightly. “Hey. It’s nice to see you.”

It pushed itself insistently into his palm, and he blinked at it. “Swablu?”

“I think it’s asking you to catch it.” Cynthia said, and she pressed an Ultra Ball into his free palm. He blinked at her in alarm, and she nodded at him encouragingly. “You’ve wanted to catch one, right?”

“I… yeah.” Raihan said incredulously, and looked down at the Swablu. It looked back at him expectantly, and he laughed softly. “You sure, bud? I’m… not exactly the most stable Trainer right now.”

It nodded its whole body, and Raihan let out a soft sob. 

“T-thanks, Swablu.” He said, and held out the Pokéball. “I’m… I choose you.”

The Swablu cheered, and flew forward to press its beak against the lock of the Pokéball, putting itself inside in a flash of light. The ball wiggled on his palm once, twice, three times—

And locked, with a pleasant-sounding click. Raihan laughed incredulously as he held up the ball to a proudly-smiling Cynthia. 

“I… I did it!” He said, “I caught a Swablu!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > I finally got to see this..... ^ q ^ [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/xw8uAjlZya](https://t.co/xw8uAjlZya)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 26, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1276441771111641088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> i finally found raihan in the isle of armour ^ q ^;; the gym leader i've getting the most frequently is uncle kabu ksjdlsdldj he really just went "bukkun please put sena on a leash" and i can respect that
> 
> my wife's garchomp was named after Bellona, the Roman goddess of war! you can thank my beta [reyna](https://twitter.com/AngInangReyna) for that galaxy brain shit.
> 
> anyway us: man having a secondary typing must be so cool
> 
> raihan, an actual secondary type person: I Think The Fuck Not You Trick Ass Bitch


	27. Beyond Keeping Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I… I don’t want him to…”
> 
> “Don’t want him to what?” 
> 
> “Think I’m a… _freak._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > the real winner was the raileon height difference [pic.twitter.com/3GXpUTgxct](https://t.co/3GXpUTgxct)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [July 5, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1279712103981445121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> ao3 i am once again asking you to show my twitter embeds. please. i am literally Begging im funny i promise
> 
> ANYWAY HOLY SHIT I JUST SAW THE NEW ANIPOKE EP AND MY PEEPEE HAAARDDD RAIHAAAANNNNN YOU'RE HEREEEEEE I LOVE YOUUUUUUUU UNHINGES MY JAW AND STUFFS THE WHOLE A PART OF THE EPISODE INTO MY MOUTH. THANK YOU ANIPOKE
> 
> damn. im ^ q ^ had a good time. thanks raihan

“Are you gonna tell him?” 

Cynthia twirled a few noodles of pasta onto her fork, watching Raihan stare at his phone at the dinner table. He’d ravenously finished his meal, polishing off even the plate of dessert Niles brought him, and spent the rest of their dinner staring at his phone pensively.

“I don’t know.” Raihan admitted, and Cynthia hummed. “I… I don’t want him to…”

“Don’t want him to what?” 

“Think I’m a… _ freak._”

Cynthia peered at him over her wineglass, and smiled softly.

“I thought you were past that.” She said, and he blinked at her. 

“Past what?”

Cynthia swirled her wine glass. 

“Keeping secrets.” She smiled at him, and Raihan blinked at her, dumbfounded. Cynthia raised her glass to him, and laughed sheepishly. “And, I guess… I’ve got something to confess too.” 

“Cynthia?” Raihan asked. 

“I know.” The blonde said, and gestured at his hand. “About… you two.”

Raihan jerked in alarm, sitting upright. “You…”

“I’m sorry, it was completely by accident.” Cynthia said placatingly, “I happened to pass by your room a while back, and the two of you were talking about what you’d do when you were married.” She smiled at him sheepishly. “I couldn’t help myself. I’m a hopeless romantic, sometimes.”

Raihan deflated, laughing incredulously. “I… well, I wasn’t exactly being _ careful _about keeping it a secret here. I bet Niles knows, too.”

“He does.” Cynthia nodded, “He found your ring on your bedside table a few days into your stay. He polished it right up for you.”

“I knew it.” Raihan shook his head, chuckling fondly. “Well, now you know.”

“Of course, Niles and I never discussed it beyond this house, and only when we’re alone.” She said. “I just want to know why you want to keep it a secret.” Cynthia set her wine glass down, and peered at Raihan. “Your relationship with Leon is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, Raihan. It’s completely your decision to keep it to yourselves or share it with the world, but I don’t know why you’d keep such a beautiful thing quietly.”

“I…” Raihan sighed, and pulled his ring out from under his shirt, where he’d been wearing it as a necklace. Cynthia’s expression softened at it—at the amethyst cut into a perfect shape that let it sparkle a beautiful violet that reminded her of Leon’s hair. “Back at home, I’m technically a minor noble.” 

“Duke of Hammerlocke, right.” Cynthia nodded, and Raihan nodded, too. 

“As a nobleman, I have…” he struggled to find the word to say, and bit out, “_Responsibilities._” Cynthia looked at him sympathetically. “I have a _ reputation. _ The media, the people of Galar, already see me a certain way, as a pro trainer, as a member of the Galarian elite. I’ve been in the spotlight since I was _ born, _and I… I guess I just didn’t want Leon to go through that whole media circus of being engaged to me, and alone, while I’m away.”

“That, and it’d look bad.” Cynthia murmured, and Raihan winced, but nodded. “To be freshly engaged, and then suddenly to go away.”

“Yeah.” Raihan replied. “I don’t want to expose Leon to my family. They’re… they’re not _ great._”

Cynthia snorted softly, and he laughed sadly, shaking his head. 

“My relatives only barely tolerate me. I’m supposed to be marrying into some other noble house, or ruling over some shit, or going into politics, but instead… I have battling.” He took his necklace off, and wore his ring gently. “I have… Leon.”

Cynthia’s eyes softened on him, but her smile disappeared when she saw the undeniable _ sorrow _in Raihan’s eyes.

“Leon, who I don’t deserve.” He said, and she opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “No, I know. I won’t deny he loves me. But think about it. I’ve never, not once, ever proven myself to be enough for someone like him. He’d been through _ so much _ with that bastard Rose, and what did I do about it? Nothing.” 

Cynthia bit her lip. 

“I couldn’t even do anything to save him. I just stood there and watched while he faced court hearing after court hearing alone, harangued by the public, by the people who were still loyal to Rose even after all this time.” He growled, his hand balling into a fist. “On the Darkest Day, our lil’ Champ saved him. Saved _ all _ of us. I couldn’t even beat him as his rival, I couldn’t hold a candle to what he’s managed in one year as CEO of Macro Cosmos, in all my years, with my _ damned secondary typing._” He banged his fist on the table, and Cynthia jumped slightly, dropping her fork onto her plate. “What good is this thing when it can kill me?” 

Raihan looked at Cynthia, his ice-blue eyes intense. 

“What good is this thing when it can _ kill him?_” He snarled, a draconic growl bubbling in his throat, and Cynthia swallowed down the involuntary sense of growing dread in the back of her throat. “I could barely _ earn _ the right to be by his side for all my life, and now I could _ end _ him. I _ know _I could.”

“Raihan.” Cynthia said quietly. “I… I’m so sorry you think that way.”

“I…” The dragon groaned, burying his face in his hands. “There’s so much more to this than I could ever say. I _ want _to be Champion. It’s been my dream since I was a kid. I know that’ll never change, and I know Leon will always love me.” 

Cynthia deflated, looking at him pityingly. 

“I know I’ll always love him, too. But I don’t want to be the man who ruins him.” He met her gaze pleadingly. “Today, I found out that I have the capacity to kill someone.” 

“Everyone does.” 

Raihan huffed. “I wasn’t conscious, Cynthia. Maybe down the line, a few years from now, that could be Leon. Me, with my hands around his neck, watching him die.” He shuddered. “I love him. I love him so much, I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I really do. I _ want _ to marry him. I want it all—to be Champion, to battle him and _ win, _ to be worthy of being _ his _forever. But I…” Raihan sniffled, and Cynthia felt her heart ache for him. “I also want to give him an out.”

“An… out?” She asked, barely noticing the way a tear rolled down her face as Raihan slowly pulled his ring off. 

“A graceful exit, when things go south. If the world never knew we were engaged, then at least, like that, I finally got to protect Leon.” He said, “I would’ve saved him the trouble of dealing with the world after that, and only those that truly mattered would’ve known.”

“Raihan.” Cynthia sighed, shaking her head. “It’s not over.” 

He blinked at her, as she sat up straighter.

“I want to help you. I really do.” She said, “And I may not be able to help you with how you’re feeling, I can… try with other things.” Cynthia picked up her tablet off the table, and scrolled through it quickly. “Here.”

She handed Raihan the tablet, and he looked up at her, sniffling softly as he wiped at his eye gingerly. “What’s… this?”

“The dig that Professor Rowan’s student and I were looking for.” She said. 

“The… Lake… of Life.” Raihan read, and she nodded.

“Right now, all we have are historical accounts that it existed, but no real proof. Riley’s currently trying to find it based on the clues we found at another dig site, but I want to find it, anyway.” 

“What’s… it for?” Raihan asked, handing her tablet back to her. She gave him a sheepish little grin.

“I hope you’re not too religious?” She asked, and Raihan managed a little smile.

“I’m Galarian, Cynthia. We’re godless heathens, remember?” He said, and the blonde giggled softly. “Long Live King Henry, and all that.”

“That’s fair.” She nodded. “Well, according to legend, the Lake of Life is where Arceus supposedly took a rest following some great battle, or at least, when it got injured. Its blood seeped into the land, and there thrived a forest full of power, and life. It’s said not only Pokémon, but _ humans _ are able to achieve _ extraordinary _things after visiting there.” 

Raihan paused. “Humans?” He echoed, and Cynthia nodded.

“With Professor Sonia’s recent discovery regarding secondary typing, Riley and Professor Rowan have a theory that the Lake of Life is the origin of humans with secondary typing.” She said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “We’re hoping the Lake of Life will tell us how secondary-typed humans happened—”

“And how they can turn back.” Raihan said, and Cynthia blinked at him. “I…” he hesitated, and he shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Raihan.” She said gently, “It’s said that when Arceus itself is close to its children, it bestows them gifts.” 

Raihan frowned. “I’m not sure I’d be too willing to call _ this _ a _ gift._”

Cynthia smiled sadly at that, and shrugged. “Give it time.” She said, and settled with Raihan’s halfhearted shrug. “I still do suggest you tell Leon. It’s only right, as your future husband.”

Raihan laughed softly at that, shaking his head. “Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed. “It’s _ not _gonna be pretty.”

“No, but I’d imagine Leon already knows he’d be dealing with the ugly, too.” She said. “That’s part of marriage, you know.”

“That’s fair.” Raihan finally smiled, and Cynthia felt a little better, too. “Thanks, Cynthia. For hearing me out.”

“Least I could do.” She said, nodding. “Are you heading up?” 

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, “Gotta psych myself up for this one. Heaven knows I need it.”

Cynthia gave him a wave, and he got up, striding away to head upstairs. She sighed in relief, sitting back in her seat, and she peered at the window, jumping in alarm when she saw Raihan’s Swablu looking at her from the window. 

“Wh—” She jolted, but quickly calmed down when she saw it cock its head at her. Cynthia giggled nervously, and got up to head to the window. “Hey, little guy.” She said gently, opening the window to gently pet the Swablu. “Aren’t you the little jumpscarer?” 

It cooed happily under her palm, rubbing itself against her hand, and she laughed, finally calming down. “Were you worried about Raihan?” She asked, and it nodded. “He’s gonna be alright.” Cynthia said reassuringly. “Leon loves him very much, you know. I believe that those two will be able to overcome anything the world throws at them.”

The Swablu cocked its head at her, and she giggled, shaking her head. “Oh, I’m just thinking out loud. You should head back to the barn, okay?” Cynthia gave it a little wave, and shut the window. She strode away, humming pleasantly to herself, as the Swablu watched her leave, blinking curiously.

It looked out into the darkness of the surrounding forest for a long moment, and eventually flew away.

* * *

“_... And Sonia asked me to meet her today. Can’t possibly imagine what that’s about._” Leon grumbled, and Raihan laughed softly, nodding. 

“Maybe Hop’s finally decided to be a little shit.”

“_Shut up, he’s an angel._” Leon pouted at him, and Raihan burst out laughing. “_Oh, I’m serious! Right now he’s even offered to help scout out some more people for Sonia’s secondary typing research—oh, do you think that’s it? Not gonna lie, I’m really excited._”

Raihan’s expression fell at the mention of secondary typing, and as he expected, Leon’s smile slipped off his face, and his fiancé looked at him worriedly. 

“_Raihan?_” He asked gently. “_Did something happen today?_”

“I…” Raihan hesitated, and he took a shaky breath. “Yeah.”

Leon’s expression grew concerned, and Raihan could see him sit up straighter in bed. 

“_Tell me?_” He said, and the warmth and kindness in Leon’s voice made Raihan’s heart ache.

“Today, Cynthia asked me to take a break, so I did. I took Gibble, and a picnic bag, and we just went out into the forest behind the mansion.”

“_Oh, right. Cynthia did say she lives in front of a forest._” Leon hummed.

“Yeah.” Raihan laughed weakly. “It’s gorgeous out here. Gibble and I had a good time, but we ran into this little girl.” He squeezed his eyes shut, and took a shuddering breath. “Aphis. Her name was Aphis.” Raihan said, and he heard Leon hum in acknowledgement. “Leon, you wouldn’t believe it, but she’s… she’s like me.”

“_Secondary typed!_” Leon breathed, and Raihan opened his eyes to see the stars sparkling in Leon’s eyes as he looked back at him. “_Oh, that’s amazing! Who’d have thought you’d run into one out there?_”

“Yeah…” Raihan trailed off into a sigh, and Leon sobered up. 

“_Did something happen to her?_” He asked, and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh fondly at that. Trust Leon to be perceptive when he wanted to be, he thought. The world could think of his fiancé as a lovely, adorable airhead, but Raihan knew better. 

This man could see right through him, on and off the battlefield, pressed skin to skin, or with a sea between them. 

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Aphis was friends with a Vespiquen’s colony, and she came looking for help after some Pokémon poachers took the whole colony away, except her best friend Combee.”

“_Poachers._” Leon said faintly. “_What happened?_”

“That’s where I found out she had a Bug secondary typing.” Raihan explained. “She could track the colony by sniffing out their pheromones, and she led us right to their camp.”

“_Wait. You only had Gibble with you, didn’t you?_” Leon’s eyes were wide at him, and Raihan laughed gingerly. 

“Yeah.” He mumbled. “I stormed the camp and failed miserably the moment someone broke through my weather tactic.” Raihan deflated, leaning back in his seat as Leon’s eyes softened on him. “And then… Lee. They _ knew _about us.”

“_Huh?_” Leon blinked. 

“They know about secondary typed people. And they tried to catch us.” Raihan said, and Leon’s expression darkened. 

“_What the fuck. How dare they._”

Leon’s golden eyes were a razor-sharp sliver of rage that sent a pleasant shiver down Raihan’s spine. He took a shaky breath. 

“One of the poachers hit Aphis with a Torment.” He said, “She… she was in so much pain.” Raihan squeezed his eyes shut. “And then, I… Lee, I think I went on a rampage.”

“_A rampage?_” Leon echoed. 

“I lost it. I went feral, I… _ caused a sandstorm, _and I almost killed a man.” He admitted. “I would’ve killed that poacher if Cynthia hadn’t found me before I did.”

Raihan opened his eyes, and looked pleadingly at his fiancé. “Leon, am I… a freak?”

“_No._” Leon replied firmly. “_You were hurt, and scared, and desperate. It wasn’t your fault._” His voice was gentle, and Raihan felt his eyes prickling with tears as Leon looked at him with nothing but _ love _ in his eyes. “_You and I both know how little we understand your secondary typing. I know how out of it you can get, how it can overwhelm you. I know it isn’t you, not really._”

“Lee.” Raihan said faintly. 

“_Is it bad to say that I wouldn’t blame you if you had killed that man?_” Leon laughed headily. “_I… that's gotta be fucked up._”

“You tell me, babe.” Raihan managed a little laugh as he wiped at his eyes. “You can ask Dr. Grana this weekend.”

“_Yeah, I probably should. I’ll probably forget._” Leon groaned. “_Anyway, thank you so much for telling me this, Rai. I love you._”

“I love you too.” Raihan mumbled.

“_How’s Aphis? Did she recover from Torment?_”

“Oh, uh… I gave her a dose of GWeez, and it calmed her right down. She hasn’t woken up yet, but she’s in the hospital right now. We got in contact with her parents, too.” Raihan winced, remembering the look of the little girl’s furious parents, but one look at Cynthia immediately quelled their anger. “Good thing Cynthia was there, or they probably would’ve ripped me a new one.”

“_I’m glad…_” Leon sighed. “_But that means you’re one GWeez down._” 

“Hopefully I won’t need it.” Raihan shrugged. “We only use it when I have intense ruts, so as long as I’m well fed I think I should be fine.” He sighed. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“_I’ll try having another shot sent over if you need it._” Leon said. “_I don’t want you worrying all the time._”

“Thanks, babe.” Raihan smiled tiredly, and Leon grinned. “Cynthia and I are gonna go visit her tomorrow.”

“_Let me know how she’s doing._” Leon said gently, and Raihan nodded. “_And by the way, where’s Gibble?_”

“Pokémon Centre.” Raihan replied. “She needed to recover from running out of energy today.”

“_I see._” Leon hummed, and Raihan could faintly hear the sound of something soothing in the distance. He couldn’t help the sleepy smile that spread across his face as he sank down into his bed. Somehow, the pillows were so much softer than he remembered them, and _ whoa, _how had he not realised how sleepy he was? 

Raihan let out a big yawn, and he could hear Leon’s fond laughter from his phone, which felt so _ distant, _now, like it was slipping out of his hand. 

“_You seem tuckered out too, Rai._” Leon hummed fondly, and Raihan could only mumble out a half-hearted response that he already forgot as he spoke it. His fiancé shook his head, and looked at Raihan tenderly as the dragon sank deeper and deeper into sleep. “_I guess today took a lot out of you. I hope Cynthia will let you rest tomorrow, too._”

“Yeah, she…” Raihan’s sentence was cut in the middle with a yawn, and he could only barely process the sound of Leon’s phone taking a screenshot. “_Delete that._” He drawled, but he knew Leon would keep it—Raihan didn’t really mind. 

“_No, I don’t think I will._” Leon said warmly. “_Get some rest, Rai. We can talk again some other time._”

“Sorry…” Raihan yawned again. “Dunno… how I got so… _ sleepy._” He snuggled into his pillows with a soft groan. “Love you, Lee.” 

“_I love you too, Rai._” Leon said sweetly. “_Sweet dreams._”

Raihan sighed deeply, feeling himself sink into deep slumber, just as he realised what he was hearing—

Wasn’t that the same lullaby he learned to calm dragons?

* * *

Leon watched Raihan fall asleep, smiling softly as he gently caressed his fiancé’s cheek on the screen. 

“We’ll be alright, Raihan. I _ know _ we’ll be okay.”

His smile fell into a little frown. 

“Please promise me it’ll be okay.”

Raihan's calm, sleeping visage was lovely. Leon’s heart ached for him, and gingerly took a screenshot. He watched Raihan sleep for a few more moments, and he shook his head. 

“I love you.” He said, kissing Raihan on his screen, and hung up. Sighing deeply, he rolled out of bed. 

“Right.” He huffed. “Time to feed the team.” He said, and strode towards the door.

* * *

Raihan knew he was dreaming. He knew he was in Sinnoh, he knew he was alone right now in his bedroom, fast asleep and curled up under warm bed sheets. He knew he was hundreds of thousands of miles away from home—

So when he opened his eyes, and found himself in the familiar warmth of the Forest of Focus, he _ knew _he was dreaming. 

The sound of a zipper opening caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder to see a tent behind him, and he felt his eyes prickle when he saw Leon step out, yawning sleepily. He still looked the way Raihan left him for the first time in his life—he could see hickeys and bite marks peeking out from under the shirt that Leon wore. It hung off one of Leon’s shoulders, and his smile was utterly _ radiant _as he approached Raihan, hugging him from behind. 

“Hey.” Leon’s voice was still rough with sleep. “You’re up early.”

“I suppose I am.” Raihan said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I’m dreaming.”

“You are.” Leon nodded, and Raihan was surprised at the acknowledgement. “I’m just a part of your mind, Rai, but I’m here, regardless.”

Raihan heaved a deep sigh, and Leon pressed a kiss to his temple. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, you know.” Raihan sighed, and Leon hummed. “I can’t stop thinking about Aphis. About us.” 

“You think you’ll end up hurting me.” Leon said, and Raihan nodded, his expression tightening as Leon squeezed him gently. “That you’ll kill me.”

“Lee, I—” Raihan turned around, and Leon kissed him gently. Raihan shut his eyes, and held Leon close. “I think… I’m a monster.”

“Is Aphis a monster?” Leon asked in a murmur against his lips, and Raihan hesitated. 

“I just… I just wish that she didn’t have to suffer like that.” Raihan replied, pulling away from Leon to cup his face in his hands. “I can’t imagine what that would feel like—getting hit with Torment, like—I can’t _ imagine. _She was just a little girl.”

“Eight, said the doctor.” Leon said, and turned his face to kiss Raihan’s palm.

“Barely old enough to go on an adventure with Honey.” They said together, Raihan’s voice a despairing breath, Leon’s a quiet murmur. 

“She was just a little kid.” Raihan said shakily. “They would’ve taken _ a little kid._” Leon took his shaking hands and squeezed them gently, “Lee, I just—I _ wish _ she didn’t have to be Bug-type. Or, hell, _ any _ other type.” 

Leon’s level gaze seemed to ground him, as Raihan found himself spiralling into tears. 

“I just—_is _ it worth it, really?” He stammered, gripping Leon’s arms desperately as he felt his despair spilling from his eyes. “Lee, I _ encouraged _ her to embrace it. I told her that there’s nothing wrong with us, but _ fuck, _ we’re the most flawed beings in the world.”

Leon gently sat Raihan down, pulling him into his arms as Raihan clung to him.

“How can I expect her to love her secondary typing when it’s separated her from potential friends? Even her _ parents _don't understand her. She doesn’t deserve this.”

His grip tightened on Leon’s arms, his eyes thinning into slits.

“Her Bug typing’s brought her nothing but pain.”

Leon stayed quiet as Raihan buried his face into the crook of his neck. 

“She thought _ Arceus _ was punishing her. She’s done nothing wrong. Arceus, if it really is all-_bloody_-that, didn’t do _ shit, _ didn’t do anything _ fairly._”

“Is that what you feel?” Leon asked, and Raihan nodded, snarling as he lifted his gaze from Leon’s neck, glaring into the darkness of the forest.

“What the _ hell _ is any of this bullshit for, if that _ Arceus _meant for this as a gift?” Raihan growled, the dragon roaring in his veins bursting forth from his chest. “I wish it had never laid a hand on Aphis.” He sank his teeth into Leon’s shoulder without thinking, and held on tight, huffing angrily as hot, furious tears streamed down his cheeks. He could feel blood pooling in his mouth, but he couldn’t taste it. He knew it wasn’t there, after all.

Leon held him close, until Raihan’s anger abated, and he sagged against Leon’s body as he felt mostly like himself again.

“I wish…” He mumbled, and Leon hummed. “I wish I could be with you again right now.” Raihan buried his face into Leon’s chest, and tried as he might, he couldn’t smell Leon’s shampoo, or aftershave. None of that fancy perfume that Leon only wore because it came from Raihan. He could hear no heartbeat, just a hollow warmth that made him ache even more. “I love you, Leon.”

“I love you too.” Leon murmured—

Raihan’s eyes shot open, and he jolted awake, shooting upright to see the sunlight streaming into the windows. He panted heavily, wiping at his eyes as he looked around his room—nothing much was out of place, but when he turned around, he saw his Swablu snuggled up against his pillow, crooning with every breath it took as it slept. 

Raihan slowly calmed down, feeling his heart dislodge from his throat, as an overwhelming sense of dread grew in the pit of his stomach. 

Somehow, he thought, today wasn’t going to go so well.

He looked at the door, and tried to ignore the sinking sensation in his gut. 

“Everything’s gonna be fine.” He mumbled, though he didn’t believe it much, himself. “I…” He looked at Swablu, frowning slightly.

“I’m… sure. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > him with different dragons..... [#PokemonSwordShield](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PokemonSwordShield?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#NintendoSwitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NintendoSwitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/EQ9UVzput7](https://t.co/EQ9UVzput7)
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun 🏝 honeystar ⚔️🛡 isle of armour 🌟 (@trickscd) [June 29, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1277527110597263360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> REYNA NOTE: by the way, raihan is _not_ a minor noble. if circumstances allow, his family is actually next in line for the throne (if the queen's family all is somehow unable to inherit) and the hammerlockes are the oldest house in galar. he just downplays his nobility these days for reasons i hopefully will tackle later on.
> 
> also, yes. [_that_ riley.](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Riley)
> 
> my guy peepee hard..... ALSO god i have run out of haha funny internet man things to say sdjslkjd


	28. An Afternoon Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The end goal of this project was to make a rapid testing kit that would help identify if someone’s secondary type.”
> 
> “Later, we’re hoping I could narrow it down to what _type_ that person is!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **content warning:** mention of needles, drawing blood.

“And exhale. That’s it.”

Leon strode into Sonia’s lab, his greeting dying on his lips when he saw the redhead sitting across her girlfriend, watching intently as a nurse drew blood from her arm. He came to a stop at the pantry, smiling fondly as he leaned against the table, watching as the nurse cleaned up his things, and patched Nessa up. Sonia was watching them all intently, but it was over quickly enough, and she gave the nurse a sunny grin as he handed her the vial.

“Thanks so much.” She said, and waved him goodbye, only spotting Leon when the nurse gave him a mild greeting on his way out. “Oh! Leon!”

“Leon?” Nessa asked, turning around to see him, and she blinked at him as he made his way over to them. 

“I invited him over.” Sonia explained, and ushered Leon over to her desk, revealing a rack with three vials—now four, when she put the vial with Nessa’s blood down. Only one other vial had blood in it, and Leon read the label.

“Allister? Was he here earlier?”

“Yeah.” Sonia nodded. “Getting some blood out of him was a pain, but we managed.” She gave Nessa a knowing grin, and the other woman shook her head, huffing softly.

“He kept turning intangible because he was so nervous about the needle.” She said, and Leon laughed fondly, shaking his head. 

“What’re the other two vials for, Sonia?” He asked, and she grinned. 

“Well, I was gonna have them sent out.” She replied, “Pelipper Post!” She struck a pose, throwing him a peace sign over her eye as she winked, and Leon laughed out loud, shaking his head fondly as he calmed down. “Just like in _ Raine’s Delivery Service!_”

“You are _ not _ using a _ Pelipper _to deliver biological samples in and out of Galar.” Leon huffed. “MC has a delivery constituent, you know. I can help you out with that if you want it expedited.” Leon offered, and she beamed at him. “I mean it. Where’s it going?”

“Alola.” Sonia said. “To that Captain Kiawe guy. Remember him?”

“I don’t think so.” Leon frowned, and she shrugged. 

“Well, you _ did _skip out on our island tour…” Sonia hummed, and Nessa snorted. 

“Yeah, to fuck Raihan.” She drawled, and both Sonia and Leon began spluttering in embarrassed shock. She burst out laughing at them, but was quickly interrupted when the door of the laboratory opened. 

“Right this way, sir.” A young woman said, gesturing for someone to enter, and Leon jumped. 

“You had visitors?”

“Oh, right.” Sonia nodded. “Magiflora Mining was gonna come see me today, but I didn’t think it’d be this late… um! Hello!”

“Ah, Chairman Leon.” Narcissus said, and Leon’s heart practically stopped at the sound of his voice. Leon whirled around to gape at him, and the blond raised an eyebrow at him. “My, what a lovely surprise.”

“You—” Leon began, but Sonia was quick to cut in. 

“Leon, hi. Yeah. This is—um. Lord Narcissus of Hammerlocke.” She said, “He’s… apparently. The CEO of Magiflora Mining.”

Leon couldn’t believe what he just heard. He blinked owlishly at Sonia, who could only offer him a strained little smile as the man kissed her proffered hand, and gave Nessa a gracious nod when she didn’t move from her spot by Sonia’s desk. 

“Yes. Initially, Professor Sonia had been working with my assistant, Emmy,” he gestured at the young woman, who stood a ways away from them, at the door. “But I had decided to come today to inspect the place myself.” He looked at Leon, grinning slightly. “I also have some papers to sign while I’m here, and the surprise company Professor Sonia keeps is certainly welcome to join us.”

“I gotta go. My girls have a scheduled training session in a bit.” Nessa said suddenly, getting up, and Sonia nodded at her. “See you later.” She leaned over, wrapping her arm around Sonia’s waist as she gave the redhead a quick peck, before whispering something in her ear. Sonia nodded, and Nessa hurried away, offering only a cursory wave at them before she disappeared through the door. 

“Shall we?” Narcissus asked, gesturing at the pantry, and Sonia nodded. Leon watched them go, and followed suit behind them, frowning deeply.

Surely this wasn’t the reason Sonia asked him to come over, but he _ really _ didn’t like this. For Narcissus to be funding Sonia’s research on secondary typing was _ strange, _to say the least. 

After all, he wasn’t fond of his own family’s secondary typed human. 

The three of them settled down at the pantry, where Narcissus’s oddly familiar assistant had prepared them a pot of tea, three plain mugs already ready for them to use. As Emmy poured Sonia, her employer and Leon a mug each, Leon watched as Narcissus and Sonia worked surprisingly well together. Leon had to admit that the man was capable of being an agreeable business partner, if he stopped being so insufferable all the damned time. The logistics of materials acquisition, grant funding, banking options, and other things were only vaguely familiar to Leon, who had very little idea on how to run a research facility. 

“Ah, but the dear Mr. Chairman is handling the project in the Wild Area, yes?” Narcissus’s mention of him made Leon snap out of his thoughts, and he blinked at him. “I’ve heard. There’s a project with the Alolan Aether Foundation company to build a research lab in the Wild Area?”

“A-ah, yeah.” Leon nodded, withering slightly at the warning glare Sonia gave him. 

_ Don’t fuck this up, Leon, _ her gaze seemed to growl. _ I have a grant with this asshole. _

Leon swallowed nervously. “I’m handling the project with the Aether Foundation. The CEO’s daughter will be back here in Galar in the coming weeks to help us get started.”

“How wonderful.” Narcissus’s flat response didn’t go unnoticed, and Leon balled his hand into a fist under the table, while his other one primly picked up his mug to sip at his tea. “Now, while the dear Mr. Chairman is here, why don’t we discuss the specifics of your research, Professor Sonia? I’m sure he’s quite interested in learning about what you’d like to do regarding secondary typed individuals.” Narcissus gestured at Leon, who peered at him warily. “After all, he’s been quite intimate with one.”

Leon felt Sonia’s heel stab into his foot, and he just _ knew _his old rival could see the building screaming match that was only just beginning to show in the glare of his golden eyes. 

“Well,” Sonia said, like she hadn’t slammed her foot into Leon’s to shut him up, “Lord Narcissus here is funding this lab for us to look into a rapid test for secondary typed individuals.” 

“Oh?” Leon blinked at that, and Sonia nodded, gesturing at the vials of blood on her desk. 

“Hence, the blood samples. The end goal of this project was to make a rapid testing kit that would help identify if someone’s secondary type.” She explained excitedly, quickly forgetting Narcissus in the room, and Leon dimly wished he could do the same. “Later, we’re hoping I could narrow it down to what _ type _that person is!”

“Astounding, truly.” Narcissus nodded, and Sonia eagerly nodded along—before catching herself, remembering who she was agreeing with. Still, the blond didn’t seem to mind, leaning back in his seat. “Of course, that entails that she does research regarding physiology and genealogy of secondary-typed individuals, and I’ve signed that into our grant contract as well.”

“Is the information open access?” Leon asked, and Sonia paused. The look on her face told Leon that she hadn’t asked Narcissus about that—but knowing her, Leon knew she would be the first person to illegally upload a copy of her work online. 

“Well, certainly.” Narcissus said, and even Sonia blinked at him. The man chuckled, and gestured at Leon. “Though I have but one condition—that the lovely Mr. Leon grace the Duchy of Hammerlocke with his presence tonight, if he is willing?” 

“I…” Leon hesitated, and he and Sonia shared a look. Her eyes pleaded at him to be careful, but when she rested her hand on his, he knew she was asking him—if a little reluctantly—for his cooperation. “Sure.” He said, and Sonia looked down at the table ashamedly. “I could use the company for the evening.”

“How cruel of my nephew to leave you alone at night.” Narcissus said plainly, and Leon’s gaze sharpened at him. 

“_You _are tearing me away from him tonight.” He said firmly. “I’ll let Duchess Odora know I’ll be coming over tonight. I’m sure she’s more than amenable to see me, as well.”

“Of course.” Narcissus nodded once, and smiled at Sonia. “Professor, I have the utmost confidence that through our collaboration, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse into a world that we can only wish to be a part of.” He got up from his seat, and Leon was surprised to see his assistant already standing at the door, holding it open. “Until tonight, Mr. Leon.”

“I’ll see you later, Lord Narcissus.” Leon said stiffly, and the man strode out of the lab. 

Leon and Sonia were quiet and utterly still until the door clicked shut. They waited for the sound of Narcissus’s Flying Taxi taking off, and when it was gone, the engine-like rumble of Corviknight breaths in the far distance, Leon and Sonia took heavy breaths, sinking into their seats with an exasperated sigh. 

“Holy shit.” Leon groaned.

“You can say _ that _again.” Sonia winced, and sat up. “Oh, Leon. I’m so sorry I asked you to do that.”

Leon gave her a tired grin. “That’s what friends are for. Besides, it’s just dinner, and Raihan’s mum loves me more than she gives a damn about Narcissus.” He straightened up in his seat with a sigh, as Sonia pouted at him. “I mean it! It’s alright. It’s just one dinner, I’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry.” Sonia mumbled. “I wanted to just… I invited you over today so I could show you my progress in this lab. I didn’t expect for _ him _to arrive here all willy-nilly.” She sighed, running her hand down her face. “I need Cheddar.”

She got up and nabbed her Yamper’s Pokéball from its holder next to the coffee machine, and released him into the lab. He barked at her happily, his stubby little tail wagging furiously as she picked him up, burying her face into his tubby tummy. 

“Better?” Leon asked, chuckling fondly.

“Better.” Sonia grumbled into Cheddar’s fur. She lifted her head, and gave Leon a withering smile. “I scored you a shitty date tonight.” She sighed, and Cheddar began to squirm insistently in her arms. She clicked her tongue, and let the Yamper hop down onto the ground. 

“It’s not like I haven’t had worse.” Leon rolled his eyes. “Guess I’ll at least have something interesting to tell Raihan.”

“Oh, speaking of Raihan!” Sonia lit up, “I’d been meaning to get some of Raihan’s blood, too. Except, you know, he’s all the way in Sinnoh…”

“I don’t have any business in Sinnoh as of late, Sonia, sorry.” Leon laughed softly. “I’m busy enough here as it is.” 

“Aw.” Sonia pouted. “Well, I guess… I guess Nessa and I could go on a holiday.” 

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Leon nodded, “The gym season won’t be for another year, and I’m sure Nessa would love a nice holiday in Sinnoh. I’ve heard there’s a luxury resort there where tourists and trainers flock to.”

“Me too.” Sonia sighed happily. “But… I _ did _just get a new project…”

“Let me see if I can’t,” Leon waved his hand, “Bat my eyelashes at Narcissus, maybe, and see if he can ignore you going on holiday soon.” 

“What!” Sonia burst out laughing. “Leon! Oh, Raihan’s ruined you!” She clapped him on the shoulder, and Leon beamed at her. “Oh, hell. Look at you. _ Look at you._” She sighed happily, reaching up to cup his cheek in her hand, and he smiled at her tenderly. “You’re positively _ blooming, _Leon. I’m glad you’re adjusting.”

“Me too.” Leon sighed, and held her hand on his cheek. “Sonia, I have something to ask.”

“Yeah?” She asked, cocking her head. 

Leon thought back to Raihan’s distraught face as he told him about his day, and frowned. 

“Do you think it’s possible for someone to become more Pokémon-like than human?” he asked, and the redhead blinked at him confusedly. “I mean… secondary-typed people. Could they be more Pokémon than human?” 

“Hm. I don’t know.” Sonia frowned. “I mean, it’s entirely possible.” She dropped herself down onto her seat again, sighing deeply. “Wait—for you to be bringing this up, did something happen to Raihan?” 

“You don’t miss a thing.” Leon laughed tiredly, shaking his head. Sonia gave him an easy shrug. “Raihan met a little girl yesterday. She’s apparently secondary-typed, too.” 

“Oh, _ what?_” Sonia gasped, “You’re _ joking._” Her eyes widened when Leon shook his head. “_Holy shit! _Another one!”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. “Apparently, Pokémon moves work differently on them than they do on us.” He crossed his arms, and her elation quickly diminished. “They learned that the hard way when they tried to save a Vespiquen colony from poachers.”

“Oh, dear Arceus.” Sonia breathed. “Is the little girl alright?”

“Raihan said he’d shot her with a GWeez. She got hit by Torment, so hopefully the GWeez will work. He said she calmed right down after the shot.” Leon said, and Sonia nodded gingerly. 

“I can only _ begin _ to imagine the implications…” She mumbled. “Moves like Torment work on secondary-typed people, _ what else _ could?” Sonia asked, “Restraint collars? _ Pokéballs?_”

Leon stiffened up nervously, and Sonia met his gaze. “Anything’s fair game, Leon.” She said gravely. “Damn… there really _ is _so much more to learn about them.”

“Not only that.” Leon said, and Sonia blinked at him. “Raihan said…” he hesitated, and took a shaky breath. “Raihan said he used a move.”

“A _ move._” Sonia breathed.

“Sandstorm, from the looks of things.” Leon said. “He said he caused a sandstorm, and…” His heart ached for Raihan. “He almost hurt someone. A poacher.”

“Jeez, I _ wish _he did.” Sonia mumbled, and she shook her head. “Damn. We’ve never seen him do anything like that back at home.”

“I know.” Leon frowned. “I don’t know if it’s because he’s really like that, or if it’s just because he’s in Sinnoh.”

“I… don’t follow.” Sonia frowned, and Leon laughed sheepishly. 

“This… this is gonna sound really stupid, Sonia.” 

“Still worth listening to.” The redhead gave him a kind smile, and Leon couldn’t help but smile back at her. 

“You see, Cynthia—the, uh, the chairman of the Sinnohan League, Masters’ Eight—” Sonia nodded in understanding, and Leon nodded. “Right, her. She told me that Sinnoh has a really close connection to the past, lots of artefacts and ruins there…”

“Oh, Raihan would _ love _that.” Sonia giggled, and Leon smiled a little at that.

“Yeah, he would.” He agreed. “Anyway. I was just thinking—do you remember when Sinnoh went on Legendary Lockdown?” 

“No.” Sonia frowned, counting on her fingers. “Leon, we were like… _ six, _back then.”

“Still.” Leon said, and she cocked her head at him. “Sinnoh went on Legendary Lockdown after the Legendary Pokémon Palkia, Dialga and Giratina appeared.” He continued, sitting back in his seat with a hum. “And who was there to calm them down but Arceus?”

“I… don’t follow.” Sonia shook her head. 

“What if Sinnoh was particularly close to Arceus?” Leon asked, “What if… what if all the stuff Raihan’s been experiencing is because of Arceus?”

“Oh, I see it.” Sonia nodded slowly, pouting in thought. “But now the next question would be _ why._” She said, and Leon sobered up. “Why would Arceus, the God Pokémon, waste time on people like us? Like Raihan? Sure, he’s one of the rarest of the lot, but people have been largely _ without _Arceus for a while now, especially secondary typed people.”

Leon frowned. 

“It just doesn’t… really make sense.” Sonia mumbled, rubbing her arm. “I get what you’re thinking of, though. Don’t get me wrong, but I really don’t think that’s what’s going on here. Surely there’s some scientific reason for this—maybe he’s maturing even more, you know how late bloomers dragons are.”

“It’s just…” Leon deflated. “Sonia, after all this, I don’t know if I’ll end up marrying Raihan, or just what’s left of him.”

Sonia fell quiet at that, pursing her lips as Leon looked forlornly down at their mugs of steadily-cooling tea. 

“I promise I’ll find something, Leon.” She said quietly, squeezing his hand, and Leon looked at her, his golden eyes wet with tears. “I _ promise. _You won’t lose him, I won’t let him go.”

“Thanks, Sonia.” Leon mumbled, and she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand. 

“You better get going. I’m sure you’ve got a lot to prepare for.” 

“Yeah.” Leon groaned, and pulled away from her. “Thanks, I really mean it. If you need help going on holiday, contact me, okay?”

“You got it.” Sonia nodded, and spread her arms at him. Leon blinked at her for a moment, before his expression softened at her. “Hug?”

“Hug.” He said weakly, and surged forward to pull her into a tight hug. Sonia sighed fondly, letting Leon cling onto her like they had as children, and the redhead shut her eyes, stroking Leon’s hair as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Lee.” She murmured, and she could hear him let out a soft sob. Sonia felt her eyes prickling, and she buried her face in Leon’s hair. “It’s… it’s gonna be okay."

She didn’t really know how truthful that was, but right now, that was all she could offer him.

It would have to do, she thought. For now, that was all she could do.

Sonia peered at the vials that held Allister’s and Nessa’s blood. 

For now.


	29. Wish Come True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How much time do we have left?”
> 
> “I’m not sure, but let’s deal with this later. I think, for now, we should go pick Gibble up and see Aphis, don’t you think?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately, it seems ao3 will never correctly render twitter embeds anymore so it's bye-bye funny internet man posts i'm afraid
> 
> by the way [check it out lol](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1284061939010695169?s=20)

“Oh, hey, Raihan.” Cynthia greeted as Raihan stepped into the dining room, and he blinked at her owlishly. She had her tablet and a finished plate of food with a single cherry tomato left on it in front of her, and she gave him a kind smile. “I let you sleep in a little. You looked really out of it last night.”

“Yeah, I guess… I guess I was.” Raihan replied, sitting down next to her with a sigh. He lit up when he saw Niles and Cece enter the room, the Heat Rotom bringing a warm plate of food to Raihan. “Oh, thanks, Cece. Niles.”

Niles bowed once, and handed Cynthia a letter. “Miss Cynthia, this was in the mail this morning.”

“Oh, thanks.” Cynthia gave him a sweet smile and began to read. Raihan watched her quietly as he ate, not too willing to interrupt her while she read. Normally, he wouldn’t mind a chat with her—but the way her brow creased told Raihan that this was something important—something he wouldn’t want to interrupt. 

When Cynthia was done, she shut the letter, and began to look through her phone. 

Her brow furrowed even more, and she sighed, shaking her head. 

“Raihan.” She said, and the younger man looked at her. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can be with you for much longer.” Cynthia looked at the letter forlornly, and Raihan peered at it. “The League is asking for me.”

“How much time do we have left?” Raihan asked, and she shook her head. 

“I’m not sure.” She said, and gave him a strained little smile. “But let’s deal with this later. I think, for now, we should go pick Gibble up and see Aphis, don’t you think?” 

“Oh.” Raihan nodded, sitting up straighter, and Cynthia sighed tiredly.

“Right. Please go get dressed. I’ll see you at the garage.”

“Okay.” Raihan got up, looking at her worriedly. “You don’t seem okay.” He said, and she shook her head. 

“Just a little fed up with this, honestly.” She said, gesturing at the letter, and Raihan gave her a little grin. “I’ll be fine. I bet Leon has his fair share of headaches as League Chairman?”

“Yeah.” Raihan said, shrugging. “Usually, he’d tell me why.” He turned around, giving her a wave over his shoulder as he strode away, but he definitely knew the kind of face Cynthia was making—

Utterly flabbergasted, as her gaze dropped down to the letter that had arrived on her doorstep that morning.

_ Chairman Cynthia— _

_ It has recently come to our attention that you are currently harbouring a potentially dangerous individual in your home. While Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke is a wholly respectable individual and is much beloved by the Galar region, it is of great concern to the Government of Sinnoh to have him under monitoring for the safety of our constituents. _

_ Duke Hammerlocke will be kept in the best of care. As such, we… _

Cynthia’s hand balled into a fist on top of the letter, feeling frustration prickle the corners of her eyes. 

“Not if I can help it.” She murmured, “I won’t… I won’t let him go.”

* * *

Raihan wanted to pick up Gladiolus from the barn before he headed off for the garage. He paused in the doorway, smiling to see Cynthia’s Garchomp leaning against him, dozing off quietly as Gladiolus sat there, patiently letting her sleep. When he saw his trainer, he lit up, his yellow eyes positively _ delighted _at the sight of Raihan, and he made a move to get up—only to remember his other friend, who was currently cuddling him.

“Hey, bud.” Raihan greeted gently, “Polite as ever, huh?”

The sound of his voice stirred Cynthia’s Garchomp to wakefulness, and only then did Raihan notice a delicate-looking leather strap around her throat. It held a beautiful, sparkling crystal that Raihan knew was a stone that let her Mega Evolve, and the way it sparkled made Raihan smile. Raihan approached her cautiously, but the Garchomp looked calm enough that he continued the rest of the way to her confidently, peering at her necklace. 

“Bellona?” He echoed. “You have a _ nickname?_” He breathed.

“Yes. I hardly use it in public, though.” Cynthia’s voice came from behind him, and Raihan jumped, whirling around to see the blonde striding into the barn, smiling at him kindly. He felt his cheeks burn, looking down at the ground and feeling very much like a child caught stealing sweets, but she chuckled fondly, reaching up to pet Bellona’s snout. “Did you know it’s inter-regional League regulation for Champions to not use their partner’s nicknames during active service?”

“Really?” Raihan asked. “Why?” 

“Well, at some point, the League decided that Champions were essentially walking billboards. Everything we did, we wore, we ate, even what our _ partners _ate was under the scrutiny of the world.” Cynthia sighed, stroking Bellona’s snout gently, and her Garchomp purred happily. “The League decided that everything we displayed to the public would be closely monitored, including our partners’ nicknames.” Bellona crooned sadly at that, and Raihan looked at her pityingly. Cynthia chuckled fondly, and patted Raihan’s shoulder. “Since all the Champions were essentially promoting their partner Pokémon, we all had to use our partners’ species names instead of their nicknames.” 

“Oh.” Raihan breathed, and he looked down at Gladiolus, who looked at him with worry in his eyes. “Gladiolus…” 

“Didn’t Leon only recently start calling his Charizard by his nickname again?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan nodded. “Yeah, he only did lose his Champion status last year. I suppose it must’ve taken him a while to get used to the freedom.”

“He… he started calling Red by his nickname again on our anniversary.” Raihan mumbled. “Ugh, I never realised… it never occurred to me to ask Leon about that.”

“Well, it’s the small things.” Cynthia smiled at him, and gestured at Gladiolus. “Maybe you’ll be the first Champion to go against that regulation.”

“Let’s focus on being Champion first, Cynthia.” Raihan laughed softly, and she chuckled fondly. 

“True.” She nodded once, and held up Bellona’s Pokéball. “C’mon in, girl. We’re going off to see your baby.”

Bellona looked at Raihan, and Cynthia cocked her head at him. Raihan laughed softly, shaking his head as he reached up to pet Bellona’s snout.

“I think she’s given Gibble to me.” He said, and Cynthia blinked at them as Bellona bowed her head to Raihan. “Gibble’s my hatchling now, even if she was the one who laid her egg.”

“I see.” Cynthia hummed, smiling slightly as Bellona gave Raihan one last bow, before putting herself into her Pokéball. Gladiolus stood up, and looked at Raihan expectantly. 

“In you go, buddy.” Raihan said gently, holding up Gladiolus’s ball. The Duraludon cooed softly, and put himself in with a flash. 

“You know,” Cynthia began, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gladiolus bow to you. All the other dragons do.” She gestured for him to walk with her out of the barn, and he let her lead him along. 

“Yeah, well, we grew up together. I don’t think he sees me the way other dragons do.” He smiled down warmly at Gladiolus’s Pokéball, and Cynthia’s smile was warm at them. “In my family, every heir of the duchy has a dragon egg they incubate under their crib. They got me a Duraludon egg, and they named him Gladiolus.” 

“You didn’t name him?” Cynthia asked. 

“Nah. The family names your first dragon.” He explained, and they paused for a moment as they got into Cynthia’s SUV. Raihan sighed as they settled down in the car, and he buckled himself up. “My dad got a Trapinch when he was born, apparently. He was named Cereus.”

“That’s a beautiful name.” Cynthia smiled, and Raihan shrugged, laughing softly. “Cereus… a desert flower, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yep, you got it.” Raihan nodded. “He’s actually still back at home, taking care of the babies in our in-house nursery.”

“What, really?” Cynthia breathed. “But if he was your father’s… oh, he must be so old!”

“He is! He’s lived way past his life span!” Raihan nodded, and Cynthia began to drive. “Every time he takes a while to wake up, or he gets sick, we think that was it, but no. He’s still very much alive and kicking.” Raihan chuckled fondly, shaking his head. “He survived my dad, he survived a plane crash, a ground-type Pokémon epidemic a few years back…” He trailed off again, and Cynthia hummed at him encouragingly to continue. “My old governess tells me that old Cereus won’t die because my dad’s never truly gone.” 

Cynthia’s smile softened at that, peering at Raihan as he looked out of the window. 

“That he’s still watching over me, through Cereus’s eyes…” He trailed off into a quiet murmur, and Cynthia huffed fondly. 

“I think so too.” She said, and Raihan turned to look at her. “I think that your father would have wanted to make sure that you were happy first.” Cynthia took a moment to give him a smile, before focusing on the road again. “Before he could pass on.”

Raihan looked down at his hands, squeezing them tightly. 

“Really.” He said quietly, and Cynthia hummed. 

“Maybe he’s just waiting,” she said, and Raihan cocked his head at her. “Waiting for someone to take care of you in his place.” Cynthia let go of her gear shifter to hold Raihan’s hand, gently thumbing at his left ring finger, and Raihan felt his eyes prickling again. She smiled, and let him go. “Just think about it.”

“I am.” Raihan said gently, reaching up to hold Leon’s ring against his heart, where it was currently hanging from an old golden chain Cynthia gave him.

* * *

Behind them, Swablu whistled happily as it lounged on the roof of Cynthia’s SUV, watching the clouds roll by as Cynthia drove along the highway.

* * *

“Yes. Thank you very much.” 

Raihan looked up from his phone as Cynthia finished off her conversation with the receptionist. The blonde looked at Raihan with a smile, and he lit up. 

“She woke up last night.” She said, “Just a little after we left.”

“Oh—oh, is she—” Raihan stammered, and Cynthia nodded. 

“She’s perfectly healthy, and she can take visitors right now.” Cynthia gestured at the lifts. “Shall we?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded eagerly, and she gently led him to the lifts. Raihan watched her mutely as she bundled him into one before she pressed a button for the floor they were going to. She sighed, leaning against the wall as she crossed her arms. Raihan opened his mouth to speak, when her phone suddenly rang. “Oh, a call?”

“No, just a message.” Cynthia grumbled, pulling her phone out of her purse. She peered at it for a long moment, and her brow creased again. Raihan looked at her with a frown of concern, and she gave him an awkward smile. “Sorry.”

“Cynthia, it’s about me, isn’t it?” Raihan asked, and her expression fell. “I’m not a child. I can handle it.”

“The Sinnohan government is looking for you.” She said, and Raihan blinked at her, his eyes wide. The blonde looked off to the side, unable to meet his gaze. “I have no idea how they found out about you, but they want you… under surveillance.” She bit out, scowling. 

“Under… surveillance.” Raihan echoed. “Sounds to me like they want me behind bars.”

“But you’ve done nothing wrong.” Cynthia growled. “I won’t—I won’t… I can’t let you go. I _ shouldn’t _let you go.”

Raihan smiled at that. “Thanks, Cynthia.”

The blonde sighed, shaking her head as she ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “I’ve been postponing my reply to them, but I know I’ll only be able to hold them off for so long.”

“It’s fine.” Raihan said, “I’ll be on my journey soon enough, I promise.”

She smiled up at him tiredly, and the lift bell dinged their arrival. The both of them looked up at the door to watch it slide open, and Raihan gestured for Cynthia to head out first. She gave him a nod, and strode past him, her high heels clacking against the linoleum flooring. Raihan followed suit after her, and she led him to a door. Her hand curled around the doorknob, and she hesitated. Cynthia turned to look at him, her expression serious. 

“You ready?” She asked, and Raihan nodded, steeling his expression.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about how she was doing since last night.” He said, “I’m ready.”

Cynthia nodded, and opened the door. They were met with the sound of a nurse gently speaking, and Raihan could barely understand what she was saying. 

The Sinnohan local language was something he hadn’t had the chance to learn much—he’d only learned bits and pieces of Kantonian back when Lance interned at Hammerlocke. Still, Raihan knew that Sinnohan and Kantonian shared the same language family, so there were things that didn’t sound _ too _far off from what little Raihan knew. Cynthia looked at him sympathetically, and announced their arrival in Sinnohan. 

“Pardon me!” The nurse quickly switched back to the lingua franca of the world, and Raihan quietly sighed in relief as the young woman hurried to the doorway to meet them, bowing politely. “Hello.” She said, giving Raihan a smile. “Oh, you’re very handsome!” 

“Oh, my.” Cynthia giggled, and Raihan laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Raihan?” Aphis’s voice came from beyond them, and Raihan lit up. “Raihan! Big bro!”

“She’s been looking for you.” The nurse chuckled fondly, gesturing for Raihan to follow her. Raihan nodded eagerly, and strode the rest of the way into the room to see Aphis sitting up in bed, her eyes wide as they met. 

“Oh, kid.” Raihan breathed, hurrying to her side. He dropped to his knees next to her bed, and he pulled her into a tight hug. Aphis clung onto him, burying her face into the crook of his neck. He rubbed her back, his other hand gently pulling her head closer to him as he took a deep, shuddering breath. “Oh, you’re okay. You’re _ okay. _I was so worried about you.”

“Big bro…” the little girl mumbled. “I can’t smell them anymore.”

Raihan felt his blood freeze in his veins, and his world came to a screeching halt as Aphis held onto him impossibly tighter.

“I can’t—I can’t smell Honey’s colony anymore. I don’t know where they are. I can’t stand sleeping in cocoons anymore.” Her voice was starting to falter, and Raihan knew she was about to cry. “I haven’t seen Honey since last night. Big bro, what—what happened? I thought—I thought we were…”

Horror felt like razor-sharp icicles that dug into his heart, tearing into his gut and slicing it to ribbons. It echoed like Raihan’s voice had echoed in his head the night before as he sank his monstrous fangs into Leon’s unbleeding shoulder.

_ “I wish it had never laid a hand on Aphis.” _

“Oh, no.” He said faintly, pulling away from her. He cupped Aphis’s face in his hands, searching her eyes as she looked up at him, her lower lip quivering. “Aphis, no.”

“I can’t… they’re _ gone._” She said, and began to cry. “They’re gone, they’re gone… it’s gone, I’m not—I don’t think I’m Bug-type anymore!”

“What?” Cynthia breathed, as the nurse looked on in shock. The blonde hurried to kneel down next to Raihan, looking up at the little girl. “Aphis?” Aphis looked at her, blinking confusedly, and Cynthia offered her a kind smile. “Hi, Aphis. I’m Chairman Cynthia of the Pokémon League.”

“Miss Cynthia…” Aphis mumbled. “My dad’s a big fan.” Cynthia laughed softly at that, and stroked her hair gently. 

“Aphis, what do you mean you’re not Bug-type anymore? You’re born with secondary typing, you know.” She said, and the little girl shook her head vigorously, looking up at Raihan as he continued to stare at her in horror. “You can’t just _ get rid _of secondary typing—”

“She said she couldn’t smell her Combee anymore.” Raihan said quietly, and Cynthia pursed her lips, looking up at Raihan as he stood up, looking down at Aphis as the little girl looked up at him. “She’s lost the ability to sense Bug-type pheromones.”

“Surely that’s just because she’s not exposed to Bug-types right now?” Cynthia asked, and jumped at the sound of a gasp. She turned to look at the nurse, who looked sheepishly away as a little Ribombee peeked out from her scrubs’ pocket. Cynthia’s eyes widened, and her jaw fell slack. 

“She would’ve smelled the Ribombee.” Raihan said, and Cynthia looked up at him. “I could, because it’s a Fairy-type.” 

“This little one is from another patient…” The nurse said gingerly, “I was going to take it to her after I saw Aphis.” 

“Oh, Arceus.” Cynthia breathed, and looked back down at Aphis. “I’m… I’m so sorry, my dear.”

Aphis’s expression tightened, and she looked down at her hands. 

“Did Arceus get mad at me?” She asked quietly, and Raihan clenched his jaw tightly, his hand balling into a shaking fist as the women in the room shared helpless looks. “Was it because… I asked if I was being punished?”

“Oh, Aphis…” Cynthia sighed, and she pulled the little girl into a hug. Aphis clung onto Cynthia, and looked up at Raihan over Cynthia’s shoulder. 

“Big bro…” She said faintly. “What happened to me?”

“I…” Raihan squeezed his eyes shut, and the Forest of Focus came back to him. 

Leon came back to him, his steady voice a quiet murmur that grew into a screaming, horrendous scratchy screech at the back of his head. 

_ “I wish she didn’t have to be Bug-type.” _

“I don’t know.” He said, and felt emotion prickling at his eyes. “I… I’m sorry, kid.” He said, and stormed out of the room. Cynthia jumped, looking up to see him leave, and her jaw fell slack in shock. 

“Raihan?” She gasped, pulling away from Aphis to get up. “R-Raihan!” 

“Chairman…” Aphis hiccuped, ready to cry again, “Did I… did I make Raihan mad?”

“No, sweetie.” Cynthia said gently, hushing her as the nurse hurried to her side, wiping at her tears with a folded paper towel. “I’m sure he’s just… managing some problems, too.”

“I’m not Bug-type anymore.” Aphis mumbled. “Does that mean we’re not friends anymore, either?”

“No.” Cynthia replied firmly, “He won’t stop being your friend just because of that.” She straightened up, and Aphis looked up at her hopefully. “I won’t let him.” 

Aphis finally smiled, and for the first time that day, Cynthia felt truly relieved. 

“Thanks.” Aphis smiled. “If it’s okay, could I see him again?”

“Of course.” Cynthia nodded. “I’ll drag him right back here and make him apologise!” She huffed, and Aphis’s smile was absolutely lovely. “We’ll be right back, okay?”

“Yeah.” Aphis nodded, and Cynthia gave her a little wave. “I’ll see you in a bit, Chairman!” 

Cynthia turned on her heel and hurried out the door, her smile quickly dropping into a frown.

What was _ wrong _with him, she wondered. He knew better than to do something like that, surely?

Maybe his rut was coming. The thought crossed Cynthia’s mind unbidden, and the blonde clicked her tongue.

“Not now…” She grumbled, and caught a glimpse of Raihan’s jacket as it turned the corner into a stairwell. Cynthia bit her lip, and hurried after him. “_Not now!_”

* * *

Leon looked at himself in the mirror, frowning thoughtfully as he looked down at what he was wearing. 

He hadn’t worn this suit in a long time, and frankly, he was surprised it still fit him—his coat was red like blood, and his waistcoat was a deep black, marked starkly with gorgeously embroidered rose stems. Like this, he thought, he looked exactly like the blooming rose the old Chairman had intended for him when he got Leon the suit, and Leon could feel his skin crawl at the memory of it. 

It was a miracle that he could even stomach wearing this suit, even, but he supposed that was what therapy did—help you recover. 

Though, he supposed, he was pretty sure Dr. Grana would _ not _be happy to hear that he did this. 

“I feel like an idiot.” He said to no one in particular, the silence of his and Raihan’s flat almost deafening. Red was outside the room, snoring softly on a Pokébed, and Leon couldn’t help but feel even more alone. He peered at his phone, briefly considering if he should call Raihan or not, but he decided against it, sighing in defeat as he looked at himself again. He picked up a hairbrush and began to brush his hair until it was a little more manageable, but he soon gave up, setting the brush down on the table with a groan. 

“What now?” he grumbled, and looked at the table—oh, hell, the _ vanity _ that he and Raihan shared. There was a half-empty rack there that had a few tubes of makeup that Raihan sometimes wore, and Leon bit his lip as he picked up a tube of lipstick. 

“This is going to be so _ stupid._” He grumbled, and peered at himself in the mirror. “Oh, hell. _ Everything’s _been nothing but stupid.”

He uncapped the lid, and prayed to Arceus he wouldn’t screw anything up.

* * *

“_Oh, shit! Nessa, look! Look!_”

Leon felt his cheeks burn as the two women peered at him from the video call he eventually forced himself to take, to ask Sonia about how he looked. The two women stared at him for a long, embarrassing moment, and suddenly they squealed happily, dancing together in their own little flat in Hulbury. 

“_Mee-yow, Leon!_” Nessa teased him, and Sonia giggled brightly behind her hand. “_Look at you, Mr. Lipstick! That’s _hot!” 

“Th-thanks…” Leon said faintly, wishing that he sank into the floor instead, staring at the way Raihan’s nude lipstick made his lips glisten. “I just nabbed one from Raihan’s collection, so I—”

“_Of—fucking—course it’s Raihan’s._” Nessa rolled her eyes. “_The man loves his nudes._” 

Sonia snorted. “_Are you talking about [that time he leaked nudes for charity](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1226415523291779073)?_”

“G-guys, please.” Leon stammered, resisting the urge to run his hand down his face, and Sonia and Nessa burst out laughing, probably at his expense. “So, you think this is alright?”

“_Yeah._” Sonia said, and Nessa nodded. “_It looks great, Leon. Did Duchess Odora say anything?_”

“Oh,” Leon jumped, and checked his phone. “Uh, yeah. She’ll be there, but she’ll be a little late.” 

“_Then just show up late._” Nessa deadpanned, and Sonia elbowed her girlfriend, making Leon laugh softly when Nessa grumbled petulantly. “_Oh, c’mon. Raihan would show up late._”

“I am not my boyfriend,” Leon said airily, and Sonia blew her girlfriend a raspberry. “Besides, I’m coming over as the Macro Cosmos CEO. I can’t be tardy.” 

“_Boo. Business talk._” Nessa rolled her eyes, but she quickly sobered up. “_Just be careful, okay?_” 

Leon clenched his fist on the table, next to Red’s Pokéball. 

“I promise.” He said, and got up. “I’d better get going.” 

“_Stay safe._” Sonia nodded. “_We’re one call away._”

Leon nodded, and they hung up. He took a shaky breath, and lightly slapped his cheeks. 

“Right. Let’s go see what that bastard wants.”


	30. Over The Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What happened? Why did you run away?”
> 
> “Cynthia, I think it’s my fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my guy i caught ?? ? ? ? [a shiny sharpedo](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1286270231942332416?s=20) ?? ? ?? ? at random??? ? ?? ?? MY GUY?????

_ It’s gone. _

Raihan couldn’t think—could barely process anything as he ran. He ran on ahead, charging through the haze of despair.

_ It’s gone. Her secondary typing is gone. _

He couldn’t see anything past the tears that obscured his vision. Scattering rainbows of light a shower of dazzling gleams that only seemed to spur Raihan on.

_ It’s my fault. _

His heart thundered in his ears. Despair clogged his throat, and he struggled to breathe.

** _It’s all my fault._ **

“Raihan!” Cynthia’s voice barely managed to cut through the haze of his mind, and he froze, jerking in alarm as he took a step forward—

And went toppling over the edge of the roof. His eyes widened, and his world came into startling, stark reality. His body lurched forward, and his heart clogged his throat—

“Bellona!” Cynthia’s scream sent a chill down his spine, and his eyes widened as he saw a blur of white—and then a soft weight supporting his midsection.

“What?” He breathed. He looked down to see his Swablu looking up at him as it slowed down his fall. Raihan felt tears prickling his eyes as he stroked its soft wings. “S-Swablu?”

It cooed happily, snuggling him as it used a weak Hurricane to slow their descent. 

Bellona came diving over the edge of the building, swooping down towards them, but she hesitated when she saw Swablu slowing Raihan’s fall down. Raihan looked up at her, stunned with shock as Swablu set him down on the ground, and Bellona followed suit, landing on the ground with a look of shock at the two of them. 

“Bellona.” Raihan breathed, and looked at Swablu. “You… you saved me. Again.” 

Swablu cooed happily, and Raihan laughed softly, wiping at his eyes. “Thanks, bud.”

Bellona whined sadly, too, and snuggled against his side. Raihan’s laugh was a little brighter than before, and he heard the sound of a Pokéball deploying. Gladiolus jumped out of his ball, and hugged Raihan, also crying out sadly. 

“Oh, guys…” His laughter dissolved into tears, and he held the dragons around him close. 

“Raihan!” Cynthia’s voice came from above him, and he looked up to see her, leaning over the bannister of the rooftop. “Oh! You’re alright, oh, thank Arceus…” She sighed, slumping against the railing. “Oh, I… _ fuck, _I need a drink.”

“You and me both.” Raihan laughed weakly. “I’ll see you in the lobby?” 

“Yeah.” Cynthia nodded, and strode away from the ledge of the roof. Raihan sighed, and looked at the Pokémon around him. 

“Sorry, guys.” He mumbled, and Swablu cooed at him sadly. “I… I don’t know what came over me.” He looked up at the rooftop again, and frowned. “I could’ve died.” 

Bellona growled softly at that, and he sighed. “Yeah…” Raihan jumped when Gladiolus took his hand, pulling him up onto his feet. “Oh, bud…”

Gladiolus looked up at him expectantly, and Raihan sighed, shaking his head. 

“You’re right.” He said, “Let’s go see Cynthia at the lobby.” 

He put Gladiolus back into his ball, and looked at Swablu. “And you, uh…” Swablu cooed happily, and produced an inactive Ultra Ball from its fluff. Raihan blinked at it, and realised that it was his Swablu’s ball. “You brought it with you?” He laughed incredulously, and Swablu cooed again, nodding. “Oh, wow. You’re a bright little thing, aren’t you?” He chuckled, and it crooned happily, singing a little tune that sounded far too _ familiar. _

_ “Red, c’mon, it’s me!” Raihan shouted over the sound of Eternatus’s cry. “I’m here! I’ll help you!” _

_ The Charizard roared at him furiously, and Raihan felt his chest ache at the sight of tears in his eyes. Underneath Red, Leon’s unconscious form lay on the ground, and Raihan could see blood. He could only hope that Leon’s injury wasn’t severe—if it wasn’t already infected with Galar particles, that is. Red swiped at Raihan angrily, and the young man hissed. _

_ “Fuck, I’m—listen!” _

_ Raihan threw his hands up in the air to show the Charizard he was harmless, and began to sing. _

_ Slowly, almost reluctantly Leon’s Charizard seemed to calm down. _

“Wait a minute.” Raihan frowned. “How did you know that song?” 

Swablu looked up at him innocently, cocking its head, but Raihan shook his head. 

“A bit daft of me to be asking you something like that.” He huffed, and lifted Swablu’s Pokéball. “Right, back in you go.” 

It cheered happily, and pecked the lock on the ball lightly, putting itself inside with a flash. Raihan put the two Pokéballs into his jacket pocket, and looked up at Bellona, who was looking at him curiously. 

“Guess it’s back to the hospital for us, huh, girl?” He asked gently, petting her. “Sorry I worried you.”

Bellona groaned softly, nuzzling his cheek, and together they strode back into the hospital. 

Cynthia was already there in the lobby as Raihan walked in, and she hurried up to him, looking him over worriedly. 

“You were still out there when I got here, did you break anything?” She asked urgently, but Raihan shook his head. She sighed in relief, and ran her hand through her hair, grumbling exasperatedly. “Mind explaining to me what happened up there?” Cynthia drawled, but then paused, looking around to see all the eyes on them. She hesitated, and huffed, making sure to put Bellona in her Pokéball first, before continuing, “Somewhere _ private?_”

“Right.” Raihan nodded gingerly, and Cynthia led him back to the lifts, where they began their journey back up to Aphis’s floor. The moment the doors slid shut, Raihan sighed, leaning back against the wall. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ll have to tell Aphis that.” Cynthia tutted, and Raihan looked ashamed of himself. “What happened? Why did you run away?”

Raihan peered at the floor indicator, and took a shaky breath. “Cynthia, I think it’s my fault.”

“Your fault?” The blonde blinked. 

“That Aphis lost her secondary typing.” Raihan said, and Cynthia’s eyes widened at him. “I—I know it sounds ridiculous, but last night, I… I had a dream.” 

The bell dinged their arrival once more, and the two of them strode out. 

“A dream.” Cynthia echoed, and Raihan nodded. 

“In that dream, I… I wished Aphis never had her secondary typing.” He admitted, and she blinked at him. “I just—I just wished she never had to suffer through that Torment. If she hadn’t been secondary typed, she wouldn’t have to go through all that.” 

Cynthia’s gaze softened on him, and she squeezed his wrist. “Raihan.” She said quietly, and the younger man looked at her pleadingly. “Don’t tell her anything.”

Raihan bit his lip.

“I know you want to be honest. I know it would probably be the right thing to do, but…” She sighed. “That can’t be enough reason, and you know that.”

“I do.” Raihan groaned. “I’m gonna hate this.”

“Everyone will.” Cynthia said, and gestured at Aphis’s door. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Raihan, please know that.” Raihan blinked at her, and she gave him a withering smile. “I’ve got my own fair share of experiences. I do believe you—I’m just not sure how everyone else will.”

Raihan deflated at that, and Cynthia patted his arm. “Right. You better apologise, young man.”

“Yes, Coach.” Raihan mumbled, and together, they strode back into Aphis’s room. “Aphis?” He called, before Cynthia could announce their arrival, and he hurried to the little girl’s side. The blonde heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Aphis light up delightedly, reaching up for Raihan as he pulled her into a hug again. “Hey, kid. Sorry. I’m so sorry I worried you.”

“I thought we weren’t gonna be friends anymore.” She breathed shakily, and Raihan tutted, shaking his head as he pulled away from her.

“No, we’re always gonna be friends, I promise.” He said, stroking her hair, and she smiled up at him. “You’ll always be my friend, bug-type or no, okay?” 

“Okay.” Aphis mumbled, looking utterly relieved, and Raihan smiled at her gently. 

“Hey, I’m gonna enter the gym challenge soon. Could you cheer me on?”

“You’re… gonna fight Gym Leaders?” She asked, awed. 

“Yeah. I’m gonna get all the badges, and I’m gonna become Champion of the Sinnohan League.” He said determinedly, and Aphis’s eyes sparked anew. “And I’m gonna do whatever I can to make sure you get your typing back, okay?” 

Cynthia smiled fondly, as Aphis’s eyes watered. The little girl nodded, as Raihan patted her head. 

“I’m gonna become Champion, and we’re gonna be okay. Will you promise to come see me when I’m Champion?”

“Y-yeah.” Aphis nodded, “A-and I’ll make sure… by then… I’ll have Honey with me, too.”

“That’s the spirit.” Raihan nodded, and Aphis finally, _ truly _smiled. “I’m gonna miss you, kid.” 

“Me too.” She sniffled, and Raihan shrugged.

“I’m gonna put all my battles online, so you can see!” Raihan said, and she lit up. “Like, on PokéTube! So you won’t miss me too much.”

“Mom has a PokéTube account!” Aphis volunteered. “I’ll watch your stuff every day!”

“Yeah!” Raihan grinned, and she beamed up at him happily. “I’ll be waiting for you at the League, okay?” He offered her his fist to bump, and Aphis lit up.

“You got it!” She nodded, bumping her fist against Raihan’s. “And someday, I’m gonna be a trainer too!” 

“Yeah!” Raihan’s smile was beautiful, and Cynthia smiled to herself as she stood by the door. For a moment, she really could think to herself that things would be alright, but Raihan’s other hand had pale knuckles while wrapped around the bar that bordered Aphis’s bed. “We’d better get going, Aphis. Get well soon, okay?”

“Okay.” Aphis nodded, and when Raihan straightened up, she gripped the hem of his parka. He blinked down at her, and she grinned up at him. “We’ll be okay, big bro.” She said, gently holding his other hand, clenched tightly around the railing of her bed. “I promise.”

Raihan felt his eyes water, and he nodded. 

“We’ll be okay.” He said, and pulled her into a hug one last time. “I’ll see you around, Aphis.”

“Bye, Raihan.” She mumbled, and reluctantly, the two pulled away from each other. He gave her a little wave, and she waved at him gingerly as he strode up to Cynthia. She nodded at him once, gave Aphis a little wave, and together, they strode out of her hospital room. 

The moment the door shut behind them, Raihan’s smile fell into a frown, and Cynthia patiently looked at him, her head cocked. “Raihan, we still have to talk about what happened to you on the roof.”

“Cynthia.” He said, and she fell quiet, nodding. Raihan turned to look at her, and her eyes widened to see his eyes thinned into draconic slits. “Please battle me.”

She blinked at him, and he looked down at the ground. “After we pick Gibble up from the Pokémon Centre. Please battle me.” 

Cynthia pursed her lips, and took a shaky breath.

“Yeah, okay.” She said haltingly, and Raihan looked at her gratefully. “And then we talk, after. Whatever happens.”

“Whatever happens.” Raihan nodded, and she nodded hesitatingly. She jumped when he surged forward to hug her tightly, but she quickly recovered, hugging him back warmly. 

“I’m sorry, Raihan.” She murmured into his ear, and he hugged her a little tighter. 

“Thank you, Cynthia.” He mumbled back to her. “Thank you, for everything.”

* * *

“It’s wonderful to have you this evening,” Narcissus said, and Leon felt like he was in one of the period dramas his mum sometimes watched when there was nothing else on the telly. He swallowed nervously, swirling Applin wine in his glass in an attempt to calm himself down. “The dining hall is being readied as we speak, but I hope our parlour is suitable for the time being.” 

“Are you telling me that I showed up too early, Lord Narcissus?” Leon innocently cocked his head, and the blond laughed softly, giving him a conceding nod as he raised his glass. “I just wanted to be on time.”

“Being punctual is a wonderful trait.” He was probably agreeing with him, and Leon sat down on a finely-upholstered armchair the colour of blood. Narcissus appraised him approvingly, and gestured at his clothes. “By the by, I would like to take note of how lovely you look tonight. Red truly does suit you.” Narcissus was _ definitely _smirking, as he took a sip of wine. “Fresh and lovely like a blooming rose.”

“Thanks.” Leon bit out, trying not to scowl. “I can’t help but wonder what you need me over for, though. What kind of business are we up to?” 

He peered up at Narcissus through his eyelashes. 

“As Chairman and CEO, or as Leon and Uncle Narcissus?” 

The blond gave him a rakish smirk, and turned away from him. “Perhaps a mixture of both, my dear.” He said, “I am, like someone you used to know, one who would mix business with pleasure.” 

Leon’s expression tightened at that, and his grip turned white-knuckled on the stem of his glass.

“Do be careful, Mr. Chairman. That piece of crystal is quite precious.” Narcissus said, and before Leon could bite back a retort, the door to the parlour opened, and Villea peered in. “Ah, Villea.” Narcissus greeted her, and she gave him a perfect curtsey. 

“Lord Narcissus. Mr. Chairman.” She greeted, “The dining hall is ready.” 

“Excellent,” Narcissus began, but Villea pushed on.

“Her Royal Highness is here as well.” The old woman straightened up, and Leon realised she was looking right at him, a hint of a smirk on her lips. “She’s already waiting for you at the dining hall.”

“_Mother?_” Narcissus hissed, and realisation finally dawned on Leon—

Raihan’s grandmother was here too. He swallowed nervously, peering at Narcissus as the man struggled to pull himself together. It seemed like Narcissus didn’t know that Raihan’s grandmother would be here too, and Leon steeled himself. 

He had never really met Raihan’s grandmother—hell, he’d never spent much time with Raihan’s _ family, _ save for Duchess Odora, and only when she came over to Postwick to wish Raihan goodbye. He had no idea what Raihan’s grandmother thought of him, but he saw the opportunity being handed to him.

Quickly, he got onto his feet, bringing his wine glass with him as he strode past Narcissus to stand near Villea, smiling charmingly. 

“That sounds wonderful,” he said, and Villea grinned up at him. “I’d love to meet her.”

He surreptitiously reached into his coat pocket to grip his phone. “Please, Villea, could you show us the way?” 

“A-ah, yes, quite.” Narcissus finally gathered himself together, and strode up to them with a stilted gait. He moved onward past Leon and Villea, and gestured awkwardly for Leon to follow him. “Best not to bother the staff with menial things, Mr. Chairman,” He said, “Follow me, please.”

“It would be my pleasure to accompany you,” Villea said, and gently ushered Leon along, her hand at the small of his back. “Right this way, Mr. Chairman.” 

Narcissus made a sound that was almost a huff, but conceded, walking on ahead of them. Leon wished he could see Narcissus’s expression, and he let himself grin as he and Villea walked together deeper into Hammerlocke Castle. Leon huffed, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Quickly, he opened up the web browser app, and flushed as Villea watched him access the search bar.

_ hammerlocke gym leader raihan grandba _

Leon clicked his tongue, and Villea chuckled fondly. 

_ duke raihan hamerlocke grandmba _

Leon huffed, feeling his cheeks burn even hotter, as the old woman laughed into her hand. 

_ duke raihan hammerlocke grandmother _

Leon ignored Narcissus’s confused glance at him from over his shoulder to look at the result. 

_ Her Royal Highness Dahlia, Princess Royal, is the fourth in line to succeed the Galarian throne. _

“Fourth.” Leon mumbled, and counted on his fingers. “There’s the Queen, her two children, and then… um…” He counted another finger. “Dahlia.” Another finger. “_Raihan._”

Leon blinked at the webpage he was reading, as he scrolled down to confirm his suspicions. 

_ The line of succession begins after Her Majesty the Queen, with her two children, and then her brother. Following suit is HRH Dahlia, Princess Royal. The last two in line of succession are the Princess Royal’s grandson, Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke, and his uncle, Lord Narcissus. _

“Oh, Arceus.” Leon said faintly. “Uh.”

Villea patted his shoulder gently. 

“Unfortunately, sir, His Grace is precariously close to the throne.” She murmured, as their little party reached a pair of grandiose double-doors. “Things may be a bit more complicated for you, I’m afraid.”

“Uh,” Leon said intelligently, and Villea patted his arm sympathetically. “Villea, he never told me—” He began, but the old woman strode past him to open the door for him and Narcissus. 

“Have a wonderful evening, sirs.” She said neutrally, and Leon could only watch the doors swing open to reveal a long table, with an imposing-looking woman sitting at the head of it. Surprisingly for Leon, the table wasn’t as ridiculously long as he thought it would be—by now, he should’ve known that the shows he’d seen on the telly weren’t really _ accurate, _but he really couldn’t help assuming. 

Narcissus walked ahead of Leon into the room, and Leon followed suit, watching as a butler—a _ real _butler, holy shit—led him from the door to a seat on the woman’s right. Narcissus was led to sit across him on the woman’s left, and he greeted her with a plastic smile. 

“Mother!” He said, “I thought you were at Wyndon tonight?”

“I was, but then I had heard from Odora that you had a guest over.” Raihan’s grandmother—Dahlia, _ Princess Royal, _holy shit—had a tart voice that was pretty much reminiscent of how Leon expected it to sound. She had a stalwart expression on her face, stern and very much royal-like, he thought, even if she was rather small, thanks to how her back curved due to her age. She looked directly at Leon, and he felt a chill go down his spine. “I was curious to see him.” 

Narcissus looked at Leon expectantly, and the younger man gave Dahlia a sweet smile.

“It’s an honour to meet you,” he paused, and carefully considered what to say for a moment, before remembering how Villea referred to her. “Your Highness.”

Dahlia’s lips were pressed together into a thin line, but Leon could see a little smirk lifting the corner of her mouth. 

“It is wonderful to finally meet you, Chairman Leon.” Dahlia said, and gestured to the seat on her right. “Our Raihan has always been quite adamant that we not meet you, but surely you won’t mind if I insist?”

_ I don’t really have much of a choice, _ Leon thought. “Not at all.” He said, and took a seat next to Dahlia, feeling his cheeks burn slightly when the butler slid his chair in behind him. Narcissus looked like he’d been slapped, for a moment, Leon realised as he sat down, but the blond quickly gathered himself together and sat down at his mother’s left hand side. Leon blinked at Narcissus as the man carefully avoided his gaze, setting his wineglass down on the table. Leon followed his example quietly, and turned his attention back to Dahlia, just in case. 

It seemed his instincts were right, as the woman opened her mouth to speak.

“Now, firstly, Mr. Chairman,” Dahlia began, a challenging spark in her eyes. “Are you aware that Raihan is fifth in line to the throne?” 

“Yes, Ma’am.” Leon nodded, and Dahlia nodded approvingly. 

“Good. For a moment, I thought our Raihan would neglect to speak with you about that.” She said, and Leon felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck.

Truthfully, Raihan never mentioned a thing, but Leon wasn’t about to admit anything that could incriminate either of them. 

“So, I’m sure you’re aware, then?” Dahlia asked, lacing her fingers together as she rested her chin on top of them. 

“I’m… not sure what you mean, Ma’am.” Leon said carefully, feeling dread rise in his gut.

“That Raihan will require the Queen’s consent to marry.” She said cheerfully. “Surely you must know that, as fifth in line to the throne, Raihan is required by Galarian law to ask for the Queen’s consent to marry.” 

“I…” Leon forced himself to steel his expression, and sat up straighter. 

“And, of course, Her Majesty will have to ask me, as well, as Raihan’s grandmother.” Dahlia sat up, and looked at Leon, and the young man felt his heart sink to his gut. “So tell me, Mr. Chairman, why are you worthy of my grandson’s hand in marriage?”


	31. The Last Hurdle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The match will be a 5 versus 5 double battle. Each trainer is allowed to switch Pokémon as necessary. The first one to incapacitate all of their opponent’s Pokémon wins.”

The sun was setting by the time Raihan and Cynthia got back to her manor, but the battlefield they stood in was brightly-lit as if it was the middle of the day. Raihan stood at one side, Pokéballs in a harness secured around his waist and thigh, and across him, Cynthia stood with her own Pokéballs in a specially-designed clutch that hung from a golden chain slung over her shoulder.

Both trainers had two Pokéballs in their hand, and the air was still between them as Niles strode up to the side of the field, Cece the Rotom now possessing a drone that flitted above their heads.

“The match will be a 5 versus 5 double battle.” Niles said, looking at the two trainers. “Each trainer is allowed to switch Pokémon as necessary. The first one to incapacitate all of their opponent’s Pokémon wins.”

“You ready, Raihan?” Cynthia called, and Raihan’s expression was determined, hard as steel as he pressed on the lock of the Pokéballs in his hand. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He replied, squeezing the Pokéballs tighter. Raihan and Cynthia looked at Niles, and the butler nodded.

“Both trainers,” Niles said, holding his hand up into the air, “Choose your first Pokémon pair!”

“I choose you!” Cynthia and Raihan called at the same time as they released their Pokémon into the field—Raihan released Darude and Gibble, while Cynthia released her Lucario, and—much to Raihan’s surprise—another Gible. 

“Another Gibble?” He asked, and Cynthia gave him a smile. 

“He’s your Gible’s big brother.” She said, giggling softly when the baby Pokémon ran up to her to snuggle her leg for a moment. “I named him Mars. He was part of the whole breeding you an Outrage Gible experiment thing Professor Rowan and I did.”

“Oh, I see.” Raihan gave the little Pokémon a friendly grin, and Mars seemed to beam up at him happily. Mars looked at Gibble, and gnashed his jaw cheerfully. Gibble cooed happily, hurrying towards the other Gible, and Raihan and Cynthia were content to watch the two Pokémon reunite for a moment, before Raihan gently whistled at Gibble. “C’mon, girl. Time to battle.” Darude let out a cry of agreement, and Cynthia’s Lucario nodded eagerly in agreement. 

“I agree.” Cynthia nodded, and thrust her fist out in front of her. “Vulcan! Dragon Pulse!” Her Lucario growled lowly, gathering up energy from his core as the heat of draconic rage began to glow around his paw. 

“Right into the thick of it, huh?” Raihan grinned, “Darude, use Sandstorm! Gibble, scatter!”

Darude let out a powerful cry, shooting up into the air as Gibble leapt aside. A sweeping sandstorm rushed after Darude as he rose into the air, and Gibble disappeared into the sandstorm. 

“Mars! Use Dig!” 

“Gibble, concentrate and use Take Down on Mars!” Raihan shouted over the scream of Darude’s sandstorm. “Darude, U-Turn!” 

“Oh!” Cynthia grinned, as Darude shot down towards her Lucario, who shot forward a blast of draconic power. “Vulcan! Use Extreme Speed and get out of there!” 

Darude sharply turned to the side to avoid Vulcan’s Dragon Pulse, slamming into the ground on all fours with a snarl as he whipped around with great agility. Vulcan shot out of the way as Darude darted for him, glowing green.

“Gibble! Trap Vulcan with Outrage!” Raihan called, and the Lucario jolted, turning around just in time to catch the Gible shooting towards him at breakneck speed through the sandstorm. Just in time, Mars came shooting out of the ground between them, blocking off Gibble’s Outrage with his body, and Vulcan’s eyes widened as Darude shot over his head, slamming into Mars. The Gible flew back as the sandstorm began to die down, and Darude kicked off the ground, returning himself into his Pokéball as Raihan quickly threw in the next Pokémon. 

“Gooms!” He called, and his Goodra straightened up, letting out a powerful roar. Mars struggled to get back onto his feet, but he managed, huffing determinedly as he looked at Cynthia expectantly. “Rain Dance!”

“Don’t let her finish that dance!” Cynthia barked. “Vulcan, use Aura Sphere!” 

Raihan grinned, looking down at Gibble. “Gibble, get him!” 

Cynthia nodded at her own Gible. “Go, Mars! Protect Vulcan with Dragon Claw!” 

The two Gibles clashed together in the middle of the battlefield as Vulcan rushed towards Gooms. He slammed his paw into her midsection, and she let out a little shout.

“Gooms!” Raihan called, his eyes thinning into slits, and the dragon steeled herself, grabbing hold of Vulcan’s paw to throw him aside as she twirled elegantly away from him. She pushed through the Rain Dance, and the last wisps of Darude’s sandstorm gave way to her storm. “Good job, girl! Now, use Surf!”

“Surf!” Cynthia breathed, “I—Vulcan! Mars! Brace yourselves!” She was surprised, truly, but she couldn’t help the little grin of excitement that crossed her face. Raihan was playing a wild game, truly, putting Gibble in danger like that, but she knew he would have a trick up his sleeve. 

How truly wonderful to see him flourish, she thought. He truly had the makings of a Champion.

“Gibble!” Raihan whistled at his now-confused Gible, and Cynthia realised that he was whistling a _song._

Gibble jumped, coming into clarity for a brief moment long enough to begin digging into the ground. Cynthia blinked at that, but had no other time to react as Gooms’s Surf came crashing down on all three of the other Pokémon in the field, finally knocking Mars out. 

“Mars is unable to battle!” Niles declared, and Raihan heaved a sigh of relief. Cynthia huffed fondly, putting Mars back into his Pokéball, as Gooms’s storm subsided, the water completely drained by the Goodra’s Surf. Gooms hurried back to stand in front of Raihan, as Vulcan pulled himself up onto his feet, wincing slightly. 

“You took out Gibble.” She said, and threw out another Pokéball. “Let’s go, Thalia!” Her Togekiss came out onto the field, and Raihan grinned. 

“We came prepared for this.” He said, and Gibble shot out of the ground, slamming into Vulcan, _hard._ The Lucario flew back with a cry, as Gibble dropped down to the ground, fainted. Raihan blinked at her in surprise, as Vulcan dropped to the ground next to her, panting heavily. “Oh.” He breathed, and laughed fondly as Gibble groaned softly. “Guess not prepared enough, huh baby?” 

“Gibble, unfortunately, is unable to battle as well.” Niles said, and Raihan nodded. Cynthia smiled fondly, watching Raihan put Gibble back into her Pokéball. 

“I guess she hurt herself in her confusion.” Cynthia said, and Raihan huffed fondly, nodding as he exchanged Gibble’s Pokéball for another. “Be careful when you use Outrage, okay? I suggest you keep it as a last resort, or only if you have about a Pokémon or two left to battle.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and threw out his next Pokémon. “Let’s go, Gladiolus!” 

Gladiolus appeared on the battlefield, letting out a triumphant cry as Vulcan struggled to his feet. 

“Oh, wow. Vulcan can really tank hits, huh.” Raihan blinked at the Lucario as he straightened up, teetering slightly. “He does look like it’ll just take a whiff of wind to take him out.” 

“Yeah.” Cynthia chuckled fondly, shaking her head. “Right. Shall we continue?”

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and thrust his hand out at Gooms. “Gooms, Rain Dance! Gladiolus, Light Screen!” 

“Vulcan, use Stone Edge on Gooms!” Cynthia ordered, grinning slightly, “Thalia, Aura Sphere on Gladiolus!” 

“Oh?” Raihan grinned, as Gladiolus threw his arms up, summoning a barrier shielding himself and Gooms from the attacks. Thalia’s Aura Sphere slammed against the barrier, barely denting Gladiolus, and Gooms once again twirled aside from the attack as she leapt out of the way, moving behind Vulcan and Thalia. Another storm cloud gathered overhead, and a powerful storm surged down onto them again. Raihan’s eyes were wild, grinning widely as he thrust his fist out at Gooms. “Great job, girl! Now hit Vulcan with a Thunder!”

“Don’t let that happen, Thalia! Use Grass Knot to deflect the electricity!” Cynthia barked.

“Burn it down, Gladiolus!” Raihan roared, “Flash Cannon!”

Gladiolus roared powerfully, aiming for the vines that shot out of the ground as Gooms sent a bolt of lightning down on Vulcan, trapping him between the burning vine in the beam of light, and the lightning bolt. 

“Swerve, Gladiolus!” Raihan called, and Gladiolus whirled around in the middle of his attack, hitting Vulcan square in the side, catching Gooms’s leg as he moved. The younger trainer clicked his tongue as Gooms dropped to the ground, and Cynthia shook her head as Vulcan dropped down, too, finally fainted. 

“Vulcan is unable to battle!” Niles declared from underneath an umbrella he and Cece inexplicably produced from nowhere, and Cynthia huffed, grinning slightly. She put Vulcan back into his ball, as Gooms and Gladiolus went back to standing in front of their trainer. The storm overhead was _furious, _but Cynthia shook her head, and brought out her Altaria, grinning slightly. 

“Time to get _serious,_ Juno.” She said, as the skies cleared, and Raihan grinned witheringly as her Altaria stretched out her wings, cawing into the sky. 

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and looked at Gooms. “You might wanna switch back in, Gooms.” 

The Goodra huffed angrily, shaking her head as she stared Juno down, and Raihan’s eyes widened at her.

“You… want a rematch, huh?” He smiled fondly, and Gooms nodded. Cynthia smiled at that, and nodded. 

“Let’s give her what she wants, then.” Cynthia huffed. “Juno, Dragon Dance!” 

“Here we go!” Raihan grinned, and looked at Gooms. “Don’t let her finish that, Gooms! Use Surf!” 

“Surf again?” Cynthia blinked in alarm. 

Raihan grinned. “Gladiolus, hit Thalia with a Stone Edge!” Gladiolus dropped to the ground with a cry, summoning pillars of rock shooting up into the air, heading towards the Togekiss. 

Cynthia smirked, and shook her head. “Thalia, shatter the stones with Aura Sphere!” 

Raihan’s grin didn’t fall, as Gooms summoned a wave of water that rushed towards Juno. “Gladiolus, hide behind your Stone Edge!” He ordered, and Gladiolus nimbly ran behind the wall of stones made by Stone Edge just in time for Gooms’s wave to come crashing towards Juno and Thalia. The two Pokémon took the wave with relative ease, and Cynthia nodded. Her Togekiss shook the water off, but Juno’s fluff sagged somewhat, her cottony feathers absorbing the water readily. Still, the Altaria seemed unperturbed, staring determinedly at Raihan’s Pokémon.

“That’s right! Don’t let it get to you—Thalia, Dazzling Gleam! Juno, use Return on Gooms!” 

“You changed it up? That’s fine with us!” Raihan sneered, and thrust his hand out at Gooms. “Use Thunder on Juno! Gladiolus, block that Dazzling Gleam with another Light Screen!”

Gladiolus threw his arms up in the air, a barrier of light rushing up in time to clash against Thalia’s Dazzling Gleam. Gooms roared into the sky, and a small thundercloud appeared over her head. Cynthia’s expression tightened. 

“That won’t land. It’s not raining.”

“Not normally, no.” Raihan grinned, his eyes thinning into slits as his words rumbled with a growl. “_But Juno is wet._”

Cynthia’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help but grin as a bolt of lightning shot out from the cloud, hitting Juno directly. She dropped to the ground with a cry, twitching softly as electric sparks ran over her body, the wetness clinging to her feathers only allowing the electricity to spread even further. Gooms threw her head back into the air, letting out a triumphant shout.

“Oh, _fuck!_” She laughed, running her hand through her hair, and Raihan grinned. “But it’s not over yet! Thalia, Dazzling Gleam!” 

“Gladiolus, Light Screen!” Raihan ordered, but he stopped short when Gladiolus winced, finding trouble lifting his arms. His eyes widened when he saw rust at his partner’s joints. They must have been caused by Gooms’s rain, he thought, and he bit his lip. “_No!_” He hissed.

Gooms leapt in front of Gladiolus, and took the damage head-on. Raihan’s eyes widened as she dropped to the ground, just like the paralysed Juno. 

“Gooms.” Raihan breathed, as Gooms peered up at him, groaning weakly. 

“Gooms is unable to battle.” Niles declared. 

Raihan huffed fondly at her, nodding as he put her back into her Pokéball.

“Reckless, Raihan.” Cynthia said sternly, and the younger man’s expression tightened. “Gladdie rusts under a storm. You _know _this.” 

“Yeah.” Raihan grumbled, balling his hand into a fist. “It’s fine.” Gladiolus looked at him, nodding determinedly. “Gladiolus is fine.”

Cynthia huffed, but nodded. “Let’s continue.” She said, gesturing at his Pokéball harness. “Next Pokémon.” 

Raihan nodded, and brought out his Swablu. It cawed proudly as it rose up into the air. 

“No more weather gimmicks.” He said, and looked at Gladiolus. “You ready, bud?” 

He nodded, and they faced Cynthia and her Pokémon. 

“Juno, you okay?” Cynthia asked, as the Altaria shook her body, finally brushing off the last of her paralysis. She nodded, and looked at Raihan. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Raihan, you’ve really come so far.”

“You gave me the advantage, Cynthia.” Raihan said quietly, and the blonde pursed her lips. “A double battle instead of the single battles of the region gyms. Why?”

Cynthia looked down at the ground, unable to answer, and Raihan sighed. 

“After, then.” He said, and she looked up at him, wide-eyed. “We’ll talk after this.” He held his hand out at Swablu. “Go, Swablu! Use Steel Wing on Thalia! Gladiolus, use Flash Cannon on Juno!” 

His Swablu shot up over Gladiolus’s head as the Duraludon dropped low, charging up energy from deep inside him. Cynthia nodded, and held her hand out at Juno.

“Juno, use Cotton Guard! Thalia, Dazzling Gleam!” She ordered, and Raihan clicked his tongue. 

“Swablu, change course and chop that cotton off!” 

Cynthia’s eyes widened. “Juno, dodge!” 

Swablu veered sharply to the left to dive at Juno, but the Altaria sped away. Raihan grinned as Gladiolus let out a powerful blast of energy, slamming into the Altaria as he fired it where she went. Juno dropped to the ground like a stone as the Dazzling Gleam hit both Swablu and Gladiolus. 

Swablu easily shrugged it off, catching himself before he dropped to the ground, and he flew up, cawing defiantly as Gladiolus fell to the ground with a wince. Raihan flinched, watching as his partner winced from the impact, but was—mercifully—still standing. 

“Juno is unable to battle!” Niles declared, and Cynthia nodded, frowning slightly as she put Juno into her Pokéball. 

“That’s it. Keep up the pressure.” She said, and Raihan nodded as she threw out her last Pokémon. “Bellona!” Her Garchomp landed on the battlefield with a heavy thud, roaring into the sky powerfully as she honed her claws. 

Cynthia nodded determinedly, and raised her arm up into the air. “Mega Evolution!”

A bright light shone from Cynthia’s wrist and Bellona’s necklace, and Raihan winced as Bellona was enveloped with light for a bright, painful moment. The light died down, and Raihan’s eyes widened at the sight of the Garchomp—larger, and even more powerful-looking than she ever was before. 

Cynthia was _not _messing around, Raihan thought. He bit his lip, and reached for Darude’s ball on his harness. “Swablu, return.” He said, and the Pokémon looked at him, bewildered, as he put him back into his Pokéball. Cynthia hummed softly, cocking her head in thought as Raihan brought out Darude back into the field. 

“Interesting choice.” She said, and Raihan gave her a withering grin. 

“Call it a gamble.” He said. “Show me what Bellona can do, Cynthia. Darude, use Sandstorm!” 

Darude let out a powerful cry as he reared up, kicking up a sandstorm as he shot into the air. Cynthia covered her face, grinning slightly as she thrust her fist out at Bellona. 

“Bellona, use Earthquake!” She ordered, and Raihan grinned. 

“Oh, shit.” He huffed, “Gladiolus! Take Thalia down with you with Steel Beam!” 

Cynthia’s eyes widened, as the Togekiss shot away from Gladiolus. 

“Darude, hit Bellona with a Dragon Claw!” Raihan ordered as Gladiolus obediently dropped down to charge up power as Bellona roared to awaken an earthquake beneath their feet. Cynthia shook her head angrily. 

“Thalia, use Dazzling Gleam!” She ordered, but jumped when the Togekiss flinched from the sandstorm around her. Of the three Pokémon in the arena, only Thalia couldn’t stand it, and Cynthia could only watch as Bellona’s earthquake shook the arena, and Gladiolus’s Steel Beam landed square in Thalia’s chest. 

Thalia was knocked into the ground instantly, and the shimmering heat of Gladiolus’s attack melted Darude’s sandstorm into glass. Darude immediately dove at it, slapping glass shards towards Bellona as he swiped at her with a furious claw. 

She roared at him angrily, disappearing into the sandstorm. 

“Bellona, counter that with a Dragon Claw!” Cynthia barked, and the Mega Garchomp immediately slammed into Darude at breakneck speed. Darude crumpled to the ground next to Gladiolus, and Raihan’s eyes widened. 

The two trainers stood still as Niles crossed the battlefield, now also wearing protective goggles as he inspected the three Pokémon on the ground. 

Darude suddenly shot up into the air, screeching into the sky, and Raihan grinned. 

“Good job, bud!”

“Thalia and Gladiolus are unable to battle!” Niles declared, looking at the two trainers. “Miss Cynthia is down to her last Pokémon, and His Grace has two Pokémon left. This battle is now a single battle.”

Raihan nodded, as he and Cynthia put their fainted Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.

“So _this_ is the power of Mega Garchomp.” Raihan said, and Cynthia grinned at him. “She’s amazing in a sandstorm.”

“This will be Gibble someday.” She said, “Train her well.”

“I will.” Raihan nodded, and they stanced up again. “Here we go.”

“Bellona, use Sandstorm!” Cynthia ordered, and the storm around them worsened. Darude let out a confused cry as Raihan grinned slightly. “Garchomp is almost invisible in a storm with how fast it is.” She grinned. “Now, while Darude is confused—Dragon Claw!”

“Counter it with U-Turn!” Raihan called. “Don’t worry about getting hit! We’ll be fine!”

Cynthia couldn’t help but smile as the Flygon’s worry immediately disappeared at his trainer’s words. Darude dropped to the ground, listening carefully for Bellona as she disappeared into the storm, and only managed to whirl around in time for her to slam into him again.

Darude turned his neck around to bite her arm, _hard. _Bellona roared, pulling away from him as Darude disappeared back into his ball. 

“Sandstorms? No problem!” Raihan roared, “Go! Swablu!”

Cynthia lit up in realisation as Swablu came out of its ball, and the sandstorm immediately abated. Sand dropped to the ground in a simultaneous rain of earth, and Bellona was left there, standing like she was bereft of something. The Mega Garchomp blinked at her trainer in confusion. 

“Our turn!” Raihan said. “Swablu, use Sing!”

“Sing!” Cynthia laughed, as the Swablu began to sing the same tune Raihan had whistled at Gibble. “Oh, it’s that song again!”

Bellona jerked in surprise, whirling around to look at Swablu, but her surprise melted away, and she dropped to the ground, fast asleep. 

“Now here’s your chance!” Raihan called. “Use Ice Beam!”

Swablu cawed into the sky, and let out a beam of ice from his mouth. It slammed right into Bellona, who was jolted awake by the impact. She rolled along the ground from the force of the ice beam, but quickly recovered, shaking off some of the frost clinging to her arms. 

“Bellona! You alright?” Cynthia asked, and she nodded. “Good. Get him with a Stone Edge!”

“Swablu, dodge the rocks and use Sing again!” Raihan ordered, and Cynthia couldn’t help but laugh as Bellona began to look sleepy. 

“Sing again!” She huffed, but she was grinning. 

“I took a page out of your book when we first battled each other.” Raihan grinned. “Swablu! Hit her again with an Ice Beam!”

Swablu let loose another Ice Beam at the Mega Garchomp, and Bellona jerked awake, wincing as one of her arms froze over. Raihan nodded in determination, as he thrust his hand out at Swablu. 

“Let’s finish this! One more Ice Beam!” He called, and Swablu nodded, charging at Bellona.

“Bellona, Stone Edge!” Cynthia called.

Bellona roared up at Swablu as he came charging at her, and she brought up a pillar of rock just as Swablu released a beam of ice, choking in the middle of the blast as he was hit square in the midsection with Bellona’s pillar of rock. Still, the Ice Beam hit its mark, knocking Bellona back. 

“Swablu!” Raihan called, as Cynthia gasped, “Bellona!” 

Swablu fell slowly from the sky as Bellona’s Stone Edge faded away, gently draping over the Mega Garchomp’s head. Niles jogged over to the two Pokémon in the middle of the field, looking them over. He gently lifted Swablu, and looked over at Bellona—

But she was covered in a flash of light, and was her normal form again. Raihan’s heart leapt to his throat as Niles straightened up, holding an unconscious Swablu in his arms. 

“Swablu and Bellona are unable to battle,” he said warmly, and smiled at Raihan. “With one Pokémon left in his team, His Grace Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke wins.”

“Oh, wow.” Raihan breathed, dropping to his knees dazedly as his dragons—save for Gibble, who was truly knocked out—came out of their Pokéballs, cooing happily as they all cuddled against his side. “_Oh._” His voice quivered, tears filling his eyes as Cynthia put Bellona back into her Pokéball. She strode over to him, smiling down at him as Raihan’s tears began to roll down his cheeks. 

“Congratulations.” She smiled at him kindly, kneeling down in front of him. Gooms scooted aside to let Cynthia come closer to Raihan, as Niles strode closer, holding the limp Swablu in his arms like a baby. He was smiling, too, and Raihan laughed softly as Cynthia offered her hand for him to shake. “And welcome to the Sinnohan Pokémon League.” 

“Thanks,” Raihan hiccupped, and Gladiolus groaned softly from where he sat—well, he was _lying down, _at this point, head on Raihan’s lap. He looked down at his oldest friend, and laughed gently when Gladiolus nuzzled his palm softly. “Oh, bud…”

Darude wiggled into Raihan’s personal space to nuzzle his cheek, and Gooms cuddled against his side. 

“They love you very much.” Cynthia said, “Still so trusting and unwavering in their support of you. Cherish that.”

“I… I’m sorry I went the sacrifice play route.” He mumbled, and his dragons cooed soothingly, already so forgiving and loving. “I’ll try harder. No one has to sacrifice themselves when we battle. We’re making it through this League with _everyone _awake.”

His team cheered in response, and Raihan smiled down at Gladiolus. 

“Let’s… let’s get rid of that Steel Beam, okay?” He said, and Gladiolus nodded, shutting his eyes. Raihan looked up at Cynthia, and she wiped a tear from her eye, smiling softly. “Thank you so much for everything, Cynthia.”

“We’ll leave first thing tomorrow.” She said, and Raihan nodded. “I bet you’ll _love _Jubilife City.”

“Yeah, we never got to look around when I arrived last month.” Raihan smiled, and he looked around at his team. “We’d better get you guys to the Pokémon Centre.” 

“Yeah, we should go.” Cynthia nodded, and turned to look at Niles. “Niles, could you prepare the SUV? Let’s all head out for dinner tonight.”

“Certainly.” Niles said, and strode over to Raihan to hand him Swablu. “Congratulations again, Your Grace. Your presence will be missed here at home.”

Raihan gave him a grin. “I’ll visit every now and then.” He said, and Niles gave him a little smile, before walking away. Raihan sighed fondly, and put Swablu back into its ball. He looked up at Cynthia, who huffed fondly as she sat down properly in front of Raihan. 

“And then we’ll talk.” She said, and Raihan sobered up, nodding. “About everything, before I let you go.”

“Right.” Raihan sighed. “I owe you so many explanations.” 

“Me too.” Cynthia chuckled, and the two of them shared fond laughter. “Look at you.” She said warmly, cupping his cheek in her hand. “You finally beat a Champion. I’m proud of you.”

Raihan grinned up at her. “You’re not the Champion I should beat, though.” He said, and gently pressed his hand against his heart. “I’ve got a long way to go if I want to beat Leon.”

“And marry him.” Cynthia nodded, and Raihan huffed fondly, shaking his head. 

“I think… whatever happens, I’ll marry him.” He said. “No matter what.” He looked up at Cynthia, and the blonde felt her heart swell at the determination in the dragon’s eyes. “Secondary typing or no, Champion or not, winner or not. I love him. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m glad, Raihan.” Cynthia said warmly. “We’ll get through this. I promise, we’ll get to the bottom of this mystery.” 

“Thanks.” Raihan smiled, and Cynthia held her hand out to him. 

“For now, let’s go sort our teams out.” She chuckled, and Raihan nodded, grabbing hold of her hand. 

“Yeah,” he replied, and turned to his dragons as Cynthia helped him up onto his feet. “C’mon, team. Let’s get you all rested up.”


	32. Princess Dahlia's Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because I love him. I love him, Ma’am. With all my heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title and some of the chapter references [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONaPfzjl8qc).

Leon blinked at Dahlia as the woman stared at him expectantly, and he swallowed thickly. 

_Why _am _I worthy of marrying Raihan?_ He wondered. He wasn’t royalty. Sure, he was CEO of Macro Cosmos and League Chairman, but that would have been _nothing _if Leon hadn’t helped convict Rose of his crimes. Leon didn’t have much going for him without Macro Cosmos and the League—take that away from him, and Leon was just little old Leon of Postwick, Wooloo Boy. 

He hesitated, and Dahlia’s dragon-like eyes narrowed on him. 

“I think, Your Highness, that my worthiness is for Raihan to decide.” He said, and the old woman’s gaze on him remained unwavering. “Not anyone else.” 

“Our Raihan hardly knows better.” Dahlia said archly. “I am his _grandmother,_ Mr. Chairman, and I am aware that there are a thousand other people from better families that would suit my grandson better than yourself. What do you have to say to that?”

Narcissus hid a small grin behind his wine glass, and Leon ignored him pointedly. 

“I won’t pretend that I’m on equal footing with you, Ma’am.” He said stiffly. “I don’t need to answer a question you decide to ask me.” 

Narcissus raised a fine eyebrow at that, and peered at his mother. “Mother, surely this won’t stand?” He asked, and the Princess Royal looked at him pointedly. The blond fell silent, pursing his lips as Dahlia turned to look at Leon again.

“Has my grandson even made you an offer to marry him?” She asked, and Leon paused.

Now that he thought about it, while Raihan’s proposal had been botched at the beginning, there was no wavering in his fiancé’s words as he promised to do exactly that when he came home. There was a surety in Raihan’s eyes, in his smile, in the kisses they shared that told Leon everything he needed to know—that Raihan would marry him, no matter what. 

With or without the Queen’s approval. 

“My Raihan is in line for the throne, after all.” Dahlia continued, when Leon hadn’t spoken. “His succession will not be prevented by the upstart pretensions of a man of inferior birth—it’s impossible, dare I say, that our Raihan would marry a man who used to farm Wooloo.”

Realisation dawned in Leon, and he fought the feeling of tears welling up in his eyes. Raihan was _risking his place in the line of succession._

He’d never noticed—Raihan had always downplayed this part of his life, but Leon now knew how much he was giving up. He knew Raihan’s privilege took him far, into many places that would only uplift him—hell, his status as a nobleman was the _reason _Raihan and Leon would have ever met—and Raihan was risking it all, just so he and Leon could spend the rest of their lives together.

Raihan loved his grandmother, Leon knew—but Raihan loved him _more._

Deep breaths, Leon reminded himself. This was no time to be emotional over his fiancé’s life choices. “With all due respect, Ma’am, shepherding Wooloo kept my family alive. Your implication is not appreciated.” He said. “And if Raihan has no objections to marrying a man from a family of shepherds, it can be nothing to you.”

Dahlia’s eyes went wide, and she looked like she was about to rise from her chair and throttle him. “Obstinate, foolish boy! Are you even sure of what you speak? How can someone like you handle the life of royalty?”

“I think I handled the mantle of Champion well enough, Your Highness. For more than_ ten_ years.” He said. “Raihan and I can handle the pressure—I can at least say we’re equals in that.”

“Why the sudden change in heart, Chairman?” Narcissus suddenly said, “Just a month ago, you told me there was no engagement. Was that a lie?”

“If you believe that our engagement is impossible, I don’t understand why you’d feel so inclined to interrogate me about it.” Leon said stiffly. “I have nothing to hide. There’s no ring on my finger, not a single word about it on social media.” 

“Ah, yes, that social media my grandson is so very fond of,” Dahlia huffed. There was fondness in her voice, and it was the first time in the conversation that Leon heard her sound anything close to the doting grandmother in Raihan’s stories. “A man can proclaim his love for anyone on one of those sites, and be found in another’s bed in the next moment. I cannot trust it, no.”

“I suppose not.” Leon replied with a sigh. “Then I ask you to simply take my word for it.”

“Your word condemned a man to a life of imprisonment, Mr. Leon.” Narcissus said, and Leon looked at the blond with a neutral expression. “Surely your word may do the same with our dragon?”

“My word condemned a criminal to a sentence he deserved, Lord Narcissus.” 

“Yet you have his estate and fortune.” 

“It is what the jury gave me as damages.” Leon said firmly. 

“Your word is of condemnation, still.”

“My word brought _justice._” Leon shot back. 

“That is enough, Narcissus.” Dahlia said, and Leon blinked at her. “Mr. Chairman. If we shall take your word that you are not engaged with our Raihan as truth, why do you still cling to him?” She asked, and Leon blinked at her. “He is half the world apart from you, there is no agreement of marriage between you. Is there a reason you stay?”

Leon stopped for a moment, and finally allowed himself to smile. 

“Because I love him.” He said softly, looking down at his plate. “I love him, Ma’am. With all my heart.”

Dahlia went quiet, watching him carefully, and Leon chuckled fondly. 

“I would not be the man I am now without Raihan. For over ten years, I’ve loved him. I didn’t realise it back then, but I know now that it was love. Now more than ever, with us so far apart, I _know _I love him, no matter what.” 

He looked down at his ring finger, and imagined a golden band around it.

“I love him more than anyone else in the world. Without him, I wouldn’t love another person.”

“That’s touching, truly, but you must consider that Raihan is a nobleman of Galar.” Narcissus said, and Leon looked at him, his lips pressed together in something close to a frown. Dahlia nodded, taking a prim sip of her tea. “He has his duty to Her Majesty, to the monarch. He _belongs _to Galar. Surely you knew that?” 

Dahlia raised a fine eyebrow at that, but said nothing, listening to her son speak. 

Narcissus had a neutral expression on his face, and gestured at Leon easily, though Leon simply _knew _the man was inwardly leering. “Raihan does not belong to you.” 

“Of course he doesn’t.” Leon said, and Dahlia peered at him again. “_Of course _I don’t _own _him.” He said, “No one _owns _Raihan. He is his own man.” He met Narcissus's gaze evenly. “The very evidence of that is the fact that I myself encouraged him to follow his dreams and go to Sinnoh.” 

“He is a _dragon, _Mr. Leon. You cannot control him.” Narcissus drawled. “He may very well kill you. Hammerlocke is much better suited to handle him, and someone that is _not _normal-type would be able to survive him.”

Dahlia watched him carefully, as Leon took a steadying breath. “How is it that Hammerlocke would be better-suited to take care of him?” He asked, and watched for the Princess Royal’s reaction to his wording—true enough, Dahlia seemed to be nodding to herself, and pushed on. “Aren’t you, Lord Narcissus, normal-type yourself?”

“Mr. Leon,” Dahlia said, and the young man turned to look at her. “The House of Hammerlocke has borne heirs with a certain… _gift,_ for generations.” She gestured at the wall behind Narcissus, and Leon looked up to realise that the wall had a collection of portraits, all bearing the same feature that Raihan had—those draconic, ice-blue eyes. “Some sons and daughters of the duchy would have a certain characteristic that bowed the heads of dragons to their every word.” 

She cleared her throat, and took a sip of tea again. 

“All of us bear the mark of a dragon tamer—we bear scars from dragons that can never be tamed. Surely you bear your own marks, Mr. Chairman, as the trainer of a dragon of Hammerlocke?”

“Oh,” Leon blinked, “You mean Calanthe. I—” he rubbed at his arm, and flushed. “Actually, no.”

“No?” Narcissus asked, sitting up straighter, and Leon peered at him, eyebrow cocked. “You can sway them to your will easily too?”

“No.” Leon shook his head, “Raihan helped me train her. She’s been nothing but sweet on me, she’s never hurt me.”

“I see.” Dahlia nodded, and continued. “The heirs of Hammerlocke that have that gift were called the unmarked, back in the day.” Leon blinked at her in realisation, finally understanding why Raihan—despite having exclusively trained with dragons—never bore the same kinds of scars that Lance had. “Now, I believe, you call them secondary-typed people.”

“The Hammerlockes had secondary-typed people?” Leon breathed, and the woman laughed softly. 

“Of course. Our Raihan is very much like his grandfather.” She said fondly, and more and more, Leon could see the grandmother that Raihan fondly remembered. “Not all heirs of Hammerlocke were unmarked. Raihan’s father and my Narcissus here were both marked by their dragons from their youth.”

“Yes, Belladonna is… affectionately dangerous, sometimes.” Narcissus agreed, and Leon blinked at him. The blond gave him a wry smirk. “Yes, Mr. Chairman. I am a Pokémon trainer, myself. My partner is a beautiful Hydreigon I have named Belladonna.”

“I… didn’t know.” Leon mumbled, and Dahlia nodded sagely.

“Which returns us to our concern, Mr. Chairman.” She said, “Our Raihan is a dragon, and you do not possess any gift.” Dahlia’s gaze on him was carefully neutral again. “He may slay you, given the chance.” 

Leon gave her a wry grin. “I do believe you handled your husband just fine, Your Highness.” He said. 

Dahlia’s eyes widened at that, but she quickly collected herself, and nodded. 

“Very well.” She said, straightening up. “Shall we have dinner?”

“Mother?” Narcissus gasped incredulously, and she tutted at him. 

“We shall not be rude.” She said, and waved their servants over. “Do give us the vintage Narcissus has generously shared with Mr. Leon, please.”

“At once, Your Highness.” The nearest butler said, and Leon was surrounded with a flurry of activity. He looked around, wide-eyed, but he jumped when he felt a hand on his. He turned to look at Dahlia, who patted his hand once before letting it go. 

“I know.” She said, lingering a moment longer on Leon’s ring finger, and Leon’s eyes widened. He felt his eyes prickling when she gave him a little smile, and nodded, before letting him go. “Now, dinner! I apologise for derailing your evening, Narcissus, but I insisted that I be satisfied. Feel free to continue your intended discussion over our meal, my dear.”

“Yes, Mother.” The blond bit out, looking at Leon resentfully, and Leon allowed himself a private little smile as their dinner was served to them. “Mr. Chairman, I invited you over to Hammerlocke Castle this evening to—”

“Pardon me!” The doors to the dining hall opened, and Leon jumped to see Villea at the door, bowing as she stood aside to let a small, lithe woman step into the room. Leon lit up to see Raihan’s mother waving at them, and he quickly got up from his seat to meet her halfway. “Oh, Leon! Hello!” She greeted, giving him a light kiss to his cheek, before striding towards Dahlia. “Mummy!” 

“Odora.” Dahlia said warmly, and allowed a hug from her daughter-in-law. “Do take a seat, dear. Surely there is enough for all of us.”

“Yes, I had prepared in advance for party crashers.” Narcissus grumbled, and Leon grinned at him as Odora sat down next to Leon. A plate was swiftly brought to her spot, and she gave the butler a smile. “Lovely of you to join us, Odora.”

“I at least told you I was coming.” Odora huffed, and smiled at Leon. “So, what’s been happening?”

“We’re having a wonderful conversation.” He said, peering at Dahlia, who smiled privately to herself. Narcissus scoffed, shaking his head. “Lord Narcissus was just about to tell me why I was invited over for dinner.”

“It’s business talk, it’s really none of your business.” Narcissus said, and Odora tutted at him.

“Nonsense! I’m sure you’ve got nothing to hide.” She said, “Go on, go on. I’m sorry I’ve interrupted.”

Narcissus rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to Leon. “It has come to my attention as of late that Macro Cosmos seems to be pulling back from the mining industry.” He said, and Leon blinked at him. “Is that true, Mr. Chairman?”

“I’d assume you’d see that in the news.” Leon frowned, sitting back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other under the table. 

“I’d rather not believe _gossip rags,_” Narcissus said dismissively, and Leon resisted the urge to laugh. “You can hardly trust them these days.”

_Yeah, and that’s why it always takes you ages to figure out Raihan’s done something._ Leon thought to himself. 

“Well, yes. I won’t deny anything.” Leon said, “We’re making the switch from mining coal to cleaner energy alternatives.” He made a vague gesture, “Hulbury and Spikemuth are our first projects for cleaner energy. Spikemuth, especially.”

“Ah, yes. The Spikemuth exodus. Raihan opened our doors to the _good residents_ of Spikemuth.” Narcissus said with a thinly-veiled scoff, and Leon blinked at him, appalled. 

“Lord Narcissus, they are people in need of _homes _while their whole town is being renovated.” Leon frowned. “Raihan opened his doors for them because there was no one else using the castle! There was more than enough room left for everyone.”

“Yeah,” Odora said, nodding along with Leon. “Raihan and I kept our rooms in the castle with plenty of space to spare. Mummy was fine with it, wasn’t she?” 

Dahlia took a deep, relaxed breath. “Well, the castle is Raihan’s, not mine.” She said. “He may do what he pleases with it.”

“He was lucky there were only so many people who needed the castle.” Narcissus scoffed. “But enough about the ruffians living in the dungeons.” Leon and Odora made the same face—one with their brows scrunched up in disapproval—as Narcissus continued. “Mr. Leon, I am discussing this with you as a competing businessman. If you’ll allow me to speak freely?”

“The floor has been yours for a while now.” Leon said flatly, and Narcissus scoffed at that.

“The shift away from mining is a foolish business move.” He said, “As a company that used to compete with Macro Cosmos, I am concerned that with your withdrawal will come the drought for not just Macro Cosmos, but for the rest of us that work in the mines.” Narcissus peered at Leon evenly. “Why the sudden change?”

“Why shouldn’t we?” Leon asked pointedly. “Macro Cosmos is not only the largest energy provider of Galar, it’s also the largest energy _consumer, _nevermind the Dynamax stadiums, which we also technically run. I’ve decided to make the shift from coal mining to other forms of energy.” 

“No other source can match the amount of energy required to maintain a Dynamax stadium.” Narcissus said, shaking his head. “And let us not forget that coal energy is not only cheap, but profitable.”

“If anything, Lord Narcissus, I don’t know why you’re so upset Macro Cosmos is pulling out of the coal energy sector. There’s _other _companies you compete with.” Leon frowned, and he thought back to Narcissus’s previous words. He’d called Rose’s arrest condemnation, and Leon had the sinking feeling that Narcissus had been one of Rose’s supporters in his time, competitors or not. “You don’t _need _Macro Cosmos.”

“I will lose a massive competitor, and the business equilibrium will collapse, Mr. Leon. Or did you not learn that in your haste to replace Mr. Rose in the year after his incarceration? Had a distraction too many in our Raihan, did you?”

“Lord Narcissus, I’m afraid that that remark is something I don’t take kindly.” Leon snarled, his expression darkening as he loomed over the man in fury. “Macro Cosmos is _my _company. I will run it as I see fit. By all means, divide the mining industry amongst yourselves; I am _not _part of it.”

Narcissus met his gaze evenly. 

“You will suffer losses, impudent boy. The nouveau riche young businessman you are will uproot Macro Cosmos and run it to the ground.” Narcissus snapped. 

“We are cutting our environmental impact. How is that going to bring us to ruin?” Leon shot back. “Lord Narcissus, I wouldn’t expect _you_ to resort to _fearmongering _and petty _insults _to dissuade competitors—which I will _not _be, when Macro Cosmos inevitably removes mining from our business entirely!”

“Macro Cosmos _began _in a mine!” The other man retorted, and Odora and Dahlia shared a look of concern, but remained quiet. “The very company that shot you to stardom, the man _you _threw in jail, are the very same things that brought you where you are today! Have you no sense of _gratitude, _or are you perhaps burning Macro Cosmos alive because your frivolous little _career_ as a _Champion_ could never match Mr. Rose’s greatest achievement?”

“Chairman Rose _ruined_ me!” Leon shouted, shooting to his feet as he slammed his fist against the table. The dining hall went eerily quiet, and Raihan’s draconic ancestors looked on as silent memories as Leon took heavy, ragged breaths. “For more than ten years.” He said carefully, sitting down slowly. “For more than _ten years, _I’ve endured that man. He’s done so much for Galar, I know, but at the cost of me, and so many other people.”

He thought of Oleana, of Bede, and the bullets they’d dodged—and the ones that hit. 

“I won’t run Macro Cosmos to the ground just because I hate him.” He said quietly. “I’m better than that, because I know how many people rely on this company. I know Wyndon was built on the back of Macro Cosmos. I _know _Galar would collapse without it.”

“Then why are you completely cutting off the roots that sustained it?” Narcissus finally sounded the most sincere he had ever sounded that evening, and Leon could almost _cry. _

“Because I made a promise.” He replied, sinking back down onto his seat. “I promised Raihan that he’d come home to a better Galar.”

“A better Galar.” Dahlia echoed. “How do you propose that?”

“I want to repeal Dexit.” Leon said, and Narcissus’s eyes widened at him. “That’s—that’s my ultimate goal.”

“You… repeal the PSEA?” Narcissus breathed. 

“I want to make Galar a better place. Raihan has new friends he’s made and I don’t want him to lose them when he comes home.” Leon sighed. “So many trainers have to leave their best friends at quarantine centres here in Galar, and some of them never even see them again. I want to know why, and put a stop to it.”

“I see.” Narcissus said softly. “Very well.”

“Very well?” Leon scowled, “You insult me and accuse me of so many things, and now all you can say is _very well?_”

“Mr. Chairman.” Dahlia said pointedly, and Leon backed down, still frowning. 

“Another thing, Mr. Leon.” Narcissus said. “I have offered Leader Sena a sponsorship deal for the Derbyton Gym and he has already said yes.”

“What?” Leon blinked, and Narcissus raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Leader Sena. Champion of the Minor League.” He said, and Leon shook his head. 

“No, I mean—you’re _sponsoring_ him?” He spluttered. 

“Yes.” Narcissus inspected his nails. “As the both of us now live in Derbyton, it only makes sense.” He said. “I am letting you know this so that Macro Cosmos will no longer waste time on attempting.”

“I…” Leon deflated. “Okay.” 

Sena was being sponsored by Narcissus? Something didn’t feel right, and Leon didn’t like how it sat in his chest. 

“Thank you.” Narcissus said, “That is all I have for tonight.”

“I see.” Leon said faintly, and Dahlia cleared her throat. 

“Well, now that that little dispute has been settled, I do believe we can all move on to more pleasant things?” She said, and Odora nodded eagerly. 

“Yes! Do tell us how you and Raihan met!” She smiled at Leon, holding his hand gently. Leon knew she already knew this story, but he smiled at her anyway, squeezing her hand. She was trying to help calm him down, bless her. 

“Indeed, I have never heard much from Raihan about you.” Dahlia said, and Leon blinked at her. “Mr. Chairman, my grandson loves me dearly, but it seems he was very keen on keeping you from us, much like a beloved treasure.”

“I’m inclined to believe he would rather not have us meet you at all,” Narcissus grumbled. “How draconian.”

“I…” Leon wasn’t sure what to make of the petulant Narcissus across him, but Odora smiled at him encouragingly. He found himself relaxing slightly, and he nodded. “Well, we met when we first registered for the Gym Challenge…”

* * *

Sena turned the key, and let the door swing open. 

He blinked at the ramshackle little apartment before him, and the walls rattled alarmingly as the train from Wedgehurst to Motostoke thundered by. Kabu peered into the apartment, alarmed, and behind them, Emi jumped up and down, trying to peer inside.

“Hey! I can’t see what you’re all gawking at if you Exeggutors keep standing there!” She shouted, as Sena stepped into the apartment, wincing when the wooden floors creaked ominously. 

“Sena.” Kabu said, “_We’re going home._” His voice took on a deeper husk in the Lavaridge dialect, and Sena shook his head as Kabu rested his hand on Sena’s shoulder. “_Sena._”

“No, it’s fine, Uncle Kabu.” He said, giving the man an uneasy smile as he pulled away from his uncle to let him step inside, Emi in tow. The young woman blinked at the apartment, and then at Sena. 

“They gave you a rat hole.” She deadpanned, frowning, and Kabu looked at Sena pointedly as the blond rubbed the back of his neck. “Sena, I’ve seen flats smaller than _this _in Big Spend City Wyndon, but at least they don’t look like they’re about to fall apart!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Sena insisted. “We’ll save up and get somewhere better, for now this’ll do.”

“Just come home with me.” Kabu grumbled, shaking his head, and he stopped, glowering pointedly at Emi when she carried one of Sena’s luggage bags in. She stopped, but didn’t seem at all that afraid. 

“No, I wouldn’t want to bother you.” Sena said, striding past Kabu to grab his other bag. “I’ll have to make the commute every day from Motostoke to here, and that’s not really feasible.”

Emi nodded, and Kabu looked at her witheringly.

“I… I’ll be okay. Mom taught me how to cook and dad taught me how to clean. We’ll survive.” Sena beamed at his uncle as he made his way back into the apartment. “Besides, I’ve just got a team of little critters. A tiny apartment is no problem.”

“A Galvantula is no _little critter,_” Kabu tutted, but he relented. “Fine. Just don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything, alright?”

“I promise.” Sena nodded. 

“Me too,” Emi gave him a mock salute. “And I’m a police officer. Sorta.”

“I promise.” Sena laughed at that, and Emi nodded. She strode over to him to pat his shoulder. “Jeez, just because I’m younger than you are…” 

Emi gave him a lopsided grin, and punched his arm lightly. 

“We’ll see ya.” She said, and looked at Kabu. “Right, Uncle Kabu?”

“I’ll visit frequently.” He said, and Sena gave him a sweet smile. Kabu huffed, and finally smiled at him. “Goodbye for now, Sena.” 

“Bye!” Sena cheerfully gave them a wave as Emi bundled Kabu out of Sena’s apartment. The door clicked shut behind them, and the walls rattled dangerously again as another train passed by. Sena’s smile slipped off his face, and he sat down heavily on a lumpy armchair, sighing deeply. 

“This is fine,” he said, “I’m sure the Gym will look a lot better than this.”

He looked at his Pokéball harness on a wooden low table that had a cracked glass top. He winced, and tried to laugh it off.

“This is fine.” 


	33. Of New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Man. It’s gonna be hard to say goodbye tomorrow.”
> 
> “We’ve all got to, someday. I’m so happy to see you grow so much, Raihan. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in the League.” 

There was a knock on Raihan’s door, and he looked up from mindlessly scrolling through his phone to see Cynthia peering into his room. She gave him a little smile, and he smiled back at her, gesturing for her to come in. Most of Raihan’s Pokémon were in the barn—including Gibble, who insisted on spending the night with Mars along with their mother one last time before they left. Only Swablu remained with Raihan, making a nest of his dreads again and cooing happily. Cynthia chuckled at him, stroking him gently as she pulled up a chair next to Raihan’s bed as the younger trainer sat up. 

“Let’s talk. Before you talk with Leon.” She said, and Raihan nodded, pulling Swablu down onto his lap. “Now,” She sighed. “Where to begin?”

“I guess we can start with Aphis?” Raihan asked, and she nodded with a sigh. 

“Tell me about your dream.” She said gently, and Raihan sighed, rubbing his arm as he looked down at Swablu.

“Well, I dreamed I was back on Galar—well, off the east coast of it, at least, on this island called the Isle of Armour.” He said, and Cynthia nodded. “When Leon and I were kids, we used to train there. He was there full-time for a while, and I went there in the summers, when school took breaks.”

“School?” Cynthia echoed. “Leon… never went to school?”

“Rose had him home-schooled.” Raihan grumbled, “Kept him on a short leash. I was surprised to learn that Leon was full-timing on the Isle of Armour, actually, but that meant I got to watch his smile disappear.”

Cynthia deflated at that, and Raihan shook his head. 

“Anyway. I was back on the Isle of Armour, camping with Leon.” He continued, and Cynthia nodded. “It was early in the morning. I woke up first, headed outside to look around, and Leon came up to me. I… I knew it was a dream, and he did, too.”

“What happened after that?” Cynthia asked.

“We just talked.” Raihan stroked Swablu’s fluffy feathers, and the Pokémon snuggled against his hand comfortingly. “I told him about how I felt about Aphis’s situation, and what I felt about my own secondary typing.” Cynthia hummed sympathetically. “I told Leon that I wished Aphis didn’t have her secondary typing, and even I got mad at Arceus for letting that happen.” He laughed wryly, and shook his head. “I don’t even _worship _it.”

“She _did _bring it up, I guess it’s understandable you’d get mad at it.” Cynthia said, and patted Raihan’s knee. “Did you know? I actually kind of got to meet it.”

“What?” Raihan blinked at her, and she laughed softly, shaking her head.

“Well, at least, its… messengers.” She said, “Giratina, Palkia and Dialga. The three creations of Arceus that supposedly created the world.” 

“_Whoa._” Raihan breathed, and she nodded, smiling at him. 

“That’s why I believe you.” She continued. “A long time ago, Sinnoh went on Legendary Lockdown, because an evil organisation awakened the rage of these three, proving to me the existence of Arceus itself.”

“How?” Raihan asked.

“I was there when it happened.” She said softly. Raihan took a shaky breath of awe. “They were awakened, and through the power of dreams, three Legendary Pokémon chose three children to help them calm these three Creation Pokémon. That’s why I feel like your dream may have had some power over real life too.” Cynthia deflated, sighing. “Unfortunate as it is.”

“You don’t think Arceus… _heard me,_ did you?” Raihan blinked at her, and she shook her head. 

“I can’t say for sure.” Cynthia replied. “But it’s entirely possible. You’re much closer to it than most of us, Raihan. It may listen to you more closely.” 

“That’s stupid.” Raihan mumbled. “Why _would _it?”

“Why would your dragon side be much stronger here than it was in Galar?” She asked, and Raihan hesitated, blinking at her with wide eyes. “I won’t say that Arceus definitely had a hand in it, but I wouldn’t rule it out, either.” Cynthia said sternly. “Is that why you ran off after we talked to Aphis?”

“Uh—yeah.” Raihan nodded. “I got… overwhelmed, I think. I couldn’t think straight, and I was on autopilot right as I went over the edge.” He looked down at the Swablu, and petted it gently. “This little guy saved me.”

“That’s good.” Cynthia sighed, and petted it gently too. It cooed happily, snuggling against her palm, and she giggled softly. “You know, this naughty little thing has a habit of scaring the shit out of me.”

“Really?” Raihan laughed. “You know, I’ve learned that it does like scaring you when it likes you. It’s definitely scared me a few times before.” The blonde giggled at that, and he gave her a grin. “Hey, Cynthia? Why don’t you name him?”

“Me?” She blinked at him, and he nodded. 

“Figured it’d be nice to have something from you.” He said, “Aside from Gibble, I mean.”

Cynthia’s surprise melted away into a fond smile, and she chuckled fondly. 

“That’s really sweet of you, Raihan.” She said gently, and considered Swablu for a moment. “Okay, how about… Janus?” 

“Janus.” Raihan hummed.

“New beginnings.” Cynthia explained, and the younger trainer grinned at that. “I thought it’d be fitting, considering I’ll be letting you go tomorrow.”

“Janus.” They young man nodded. “I like it. Thanks, Cynthia!” he looked down at Swablu, and gave it a pet. “Your name’s Janus from now on. How about that?”

Janus seemed to preen, puffing out its feathers proudly, and the two trainers laughed.

“He loves it.” Raihan smiled at Cynthia. “This one’s a little vain.”

“Reminds me of a certain someone who likes complimenting his own selfies.” Cynthia teased, and Raihan burst out laughing. She sobered up, nodding. “That’s right. Keep smiling, Raihan. It’ll keep your head up when you need it most.”

Raihan sobered up too, and nodded. “Thanks.” 

Janus snuggled against Raihan’s shirt, and he huffed fondly. “Okay, on to the next thing.” He said, “Why’d you choose to have a double battle with me?”

Cynthia sighed. “I… I wanted to battle you as you will be in Galar.” She said, and Raihan blinked at her. “I know battling you in a doubles match would give you an advantage—that’s your _specialty, _for crying out loud—but when I accepted your offer to train under me, I wanted to help you grow as a Gym Leader, not as a Champion.”

“Cynthia…” Raihan breathed.

“You already have what it takes to become a Champion, Raihan. There’s nothing I need to teach you in that regard.” She smiled. “And I knew that you wouldn’t stay as a Champion for long. Not because you’ll lose it easily, no—I knew now that there was no need for you to _stay _a Champion.” She cupped his cheek in her hand gently. “You just wanted to know you could do it, and that you could become closer to Leon along the way.”

“I…” 

“You have a dream, Raihan. Your dream was to become Champion—_all _of us have that dream.” Cynthia let him go to squeeze his hand. “But you had a different reason to become Champion. Forgive me for speaking so boldly when I know very little, but back then, I think you wanted to become Champion to protect Leon.” 

“I… _yeah._” Raihan said faintly, squeezing her hand back. “As a kid, I… I wanted to become Champion to run away from the noble life. As I grew older, I fell in love, and I wanted… I wanted to protect Leon.”

“And now?” Cynthia asked.

“I want to become equals with him.” Raihan said shakily. “For me.”

“For you.” She nodded, and leaned forward to pull him into a hug, carefully making sure not to squeeze Janus between them. “And that’s what I want to hear. Becoming a Champion is a thing you do for yourself, first and foremost.”

“You think,” Raihan mumbled into her shirt, clinging to her tightly. “You think _now, _I’ll be a Champion?”

“Of course.” Cynthia said warmly, rubbing his back. “I’m cheering you on, every step of the way. Don’t worry about the rest—I’ll protect you, this time.”

Raihan nodded, and she pulled away, thumbing away at his cheek at the wetness that had escaped the corners of his eyes. 

“I heard from Leon.” She said, “About how you were hounded every step of the way in your Gym Challenge as a child. I won’t let that happen here.”

“Thanks.” Raihan said gingerly, smiling at her. “Really, I mean it.” He laughed softly, shaking his head as he pulled away from her, wiping at his eyes. “_Man. _It’s gonna be hard to say goodbye tomorrow.”

“We’ve all got to, someday.” Cynthia smiled warmly at him, and got up. “I’m so happy to see you grow so much, Raihan. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in the League.” 

“Will I get to battle you again?” Raihan asked, grinning cheekily, and she giggled as she made her way to the door.

“Cheeky boy.” She tutted. “Maybe. Goodnight, Raihan. Have a wonderful chat with Leon.”

“G’night, Cynthia.” Raihan smiled, waving at her, and she left the room, gently shutting the door behind her. He sighed happily, leaning back in his seat as he looked at his phone, grinning at the time. “Should be almost time to call Leon…” He grinned wider, and shook his head. “Nah, let’s call him now. I can’t wait.”

He quickly called Leon, eagerly waiting for his fiancé to pick up.

* * *

Leon woke up to the gentle warmth of sunlight streaming in from a window beside him, blinking awake to see a golden band on sundrops painting a line over his ring finger. He smiled dreamily, sitting up to realise he was in a four-poster bed, sinking in luxurious warmth and softness that had lulled him right to dreamless sleep the night before.

Well, that and the Applin wine, he supposed, as he sat up, looking around to gain his bearings again.

He was in Raihan’s old room in Hammerlocke Castle, dressed in his old silk pyjamas that Leon had half the mind to steal to use at home, bathed in the blue and orange of the duchy. Raihan’s room was roughly the size of the presidential suite in the Rose of the Rondelands, and just as lavish, given the marble flooring and the crystal chandelier in the entrance alcove of the room. He had been there a few times in the years before they made their relationship public, but it had mostly been just to have sex—Leon didn’t have much time to explore Raihan’s room in Hammerlocke before he had to go running out from Raihan’s balcony in the middle of the night.

Now, though, he could take a peek around, just for a little. The castle had yet to wake, and Raihan wasn’t calling yet. He slipped out of bed, sliding on the slippers he got from Villea the night before, and walked around. He found a door, but it led to an ensuite bathroom—that _was _familiar, actually, Leon realised when he saw the claw-footed bathtub he also had sex in at some point before. 

He frowned, stepping out of the bathroom, wondering where Raihan’s _closet _was. That is—if it _was _a closet like the one they had back in Wyndon. If Sonia’s favourite royal-girl chick flick was to go off of, Raihan should have a whole _room _dedicated to his clothes, all controlled with a remote control and about the size of a tiny mall.

He didn’t get to continue his search when he heard his phone suddenly ring, and Leon jumped back into bed, smiling widely as he scrambled to get his phone to answer Raihan’s call.

“_Hey, babe!_” Raihan greeted cheerfully, and Leon beamed at him. 

“Hi.” He greeted, sitting up properly, and Raihan’s smile suddenly slipped off his face. Leon stopped, blinking at him in alarm as he cocked his head. “Raihan? You okay?”

“_Are you… in Hammerlocke?_” He asked, and Leon nodded. Raihan gaped at him. “_Leon, what—I told you to stay away from Uncle Narcissus!_”

“Raihan,” Leon sighed, “I’m _fine._”

“_No, you don’t—Leon, my gran visits there sometimes, what if she—_”

“I’ve met her, actually.” Leon deadpanned, and Raihan looked like he was about to faint. “Which was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“_You’ve… you’ve met my family._” Raihan said faintly, and Leon nodded. “_Oh, fuck. You’ve met my family. Leon, what did—shit, oh man…_”

“If you’d listen to me for _five minutes, _Raihan.” Leon said sternly, and Raihan clammed up, his cheeks darkening with embarrassment as he finally let Leon speak. “Thank you.” He huffed, and shook his head. “Yes, I met your family yesterday. No, it wasn’t on purpose. I _know _you’re just trying to keep me safe, Raihan, but I needed to see Lord Narcissus last night, for Sonia’s sake. Her project’s results were on the line, and I knew I could take care of myself anyway.”

“_Sonia?_” Raihan asked. “_What happened to her?_”

“Apparently, Magiflora Mining was the company who offered her a research grant.” Leon said, and Raihan winced. “Did… did you know about Magiflora Mining?” 

“_Yeah._” He nodded. “_I… fuck, I should’ve told you._” 

Leon shook his head. “You wouldn’t have known, Rai. I didn’t ask.”

Raihan clammed up at that, and Leon offered him a sweet smile. 

“So. I accepted Lord Narcissus’s invitation for me to have dinner with him, and Princess Dahlia crashed our dinner date.” Leon said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “She showed up at the dining hall Lord Narcissus prepared for us, and _boy, _let me tell you, I came in there prepared to verbally spar with your asshole of an uncle, not your _grandmother._”

“_She interrogated you._” Raihan said faintly. “_Fuck, did she—Lee, I promise, I didn’t mean to_—”

“Rai.” Leon said gently, “I get it.” He felt his heart swell at the worried expression on Raihan’s face. “I only _just _learned about you as a noble last night, though I _really _wish I could’ve learned that from _you, _instead.”

“_Fuck._” Raihan hissed. “_Lee, I’m so… I’m so sorry._” 

“Oh, Raihan…” Leon sighed fondly, as the other man looked ready to cry. “No, darling, I’m not mad. I’m not mad at you for keeping it from me.” 

“_No, I—I…_” Raihan groaned, wiping at his eyes. “_People have left. Before. When they heard._”

“You think _I _would leave?” Leon smiled at him, and Raihan sniffled, peering at him gingerly. “Really, I should’ve known. You’re such an important figure in Galar, not just as Raihan, Gym Leader, but as Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke.” 

Oh, Leon wished he could be there with Raihan to hold him close.

“It was a bit of a nasty surprise, I’ll give you that,” Leon laughed softly. “You, fifth in line to the throne? Arceus, could you imagine? King Raihan. That’s badass.” Raihan managed a little chuckle at that, and Leon’s smile widened. “And I’d be Prince Consort. Not bad, for a guy who used to herd Wooloo to survive.”

“_Fuck, she brought up that, didn’t she?_” Raihan groaned, and Leon nodded, laughing.

“It felt like I was in those period films you like watching when you think I’m not looking!” He cooed, and Raihan spluttered in protest. “Oh, I was so nervous. I’m just glad I made it through all that, ugh.” He shook his head fondly, and Raihan looked at him pityingly. “But I think… I think my feelings got through to her.”

“_Really?_” Raihan asked, smiling slightly, and Leon nodded.

“She asked if you proposed to me.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “I told her no, which is true, technically.”

“_Technically._” Raihan grumbled.

“And, well, then she asked me why I stayed with you.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “We’re living so far apart, and for a year? Without a promise to get married? So she asked me why I stayed.” 

“_What did you tell her?_”

“The truth.” Leon smiled, “That I love you, more than anything.” 

“_Babe._” Raihan’s smile was beautiful, and Leon felt his heart swell at the sight of it. 

“And Raihan, thank you.” He said, and his fiancé blinked at him. “I think I understand why you kept your noble life a secret from me—you were giving up so much just to be with me, even your place in the line of succession.”

Raihan fell quiet, but Leon continued. 

“Princess Dahlia told me. If you married me without the Queen’s approval, you’d lose your right to succeed the throne. Probably the duchy too, I dunno.” He laughed softly. “I have no idea how any of that works, but what I _do _know is that you were never supposed to fall in love with me.” 

“_Leon…_”

“But you did.” Leon smiled, pressing his hand to his heart. “And every day, I’m so grateful you do.” 

“_Fuck, Lee, I’m really gonna cry._” Raihan sniffed, and Leon laughed happily, cuddling back into the soft, fluffy pillows of Raihan’s old bed. “_I love you too. Like I said, I’m gonna marry you, no matter what. Queen’s consent or not._” 

“You’d better!” Leon blew him a raspberry, grinning, and Raihan grinned back at him. 

“_You know it. So, did Uncle Narcissus ever get to do what he wanted to do?_” He asked, and Leon’s smile finally dimmed somewhat. “_Shit, he did, huh?_”

“Well, I don’t actually know _what _he did. If he was giving me business advice, he sure went about it in the worst way possible.” Leon grumbled. “He wanted to talk to me about MC’s plans on backing out of mining.”

“_Mining? Why’d he be upset?_” Raihan blinked. 

“I think he’s concerned about the losses MC might face when we pull out.” Leon said, “He sounds like he’s a Rose supporter, and I _really _don’t want to unpack that.”

“_Yeah, I think he was._” Raihan hummed. “_I think, at some point, Hammerlocke helped him grow Macro Cosmos._” 

“Really?” Leon blinked at him, and Raihan nodded.

“_Dad’s idea. Just an investment here and there, I think. That’s why Hammerlocke Castle is on top of a power plant._” He frowned. “_And how Rose managed to sneak a massive dragon under my nose for so long. I hardly went down there myself._”

“I… I see.” Leon hummed. “Lord Narcissus just seemed really concerned about Macro Cosmos, I think. I think at some point he also tried to help Princess Dahlia back me into a corner about you, but it never worked.”

“_I’m glad._” Raihan sighed. 

“So, I _guess? _What he wanted to do was help me, I think?” Leon hummed. “Because, uh… he seemed _okay _with us, in the end.”

“_Weird._” Raihan frowned, and Leon shrugged.

“Maybe he was just looking out for you?” He ventured, and Raihan huffed. 

“_Doesn’t sound like the Uncle Narcissus I know._” He sighed. “_Jeez. That was a fucking _scare,_ babe. I’m glad you’re okay, but man, now I kinda wish I was there with you when you faced them off._” 

“This isn’t the same as when we were on the roof of Hammerlocke Castle, Rai.” Leon chuckled, and Raihan grinned.

“_Nah, my primary concern isn’t being there to help,_” he said. “_I just wanted to see how hot you looked mouthing off to my gran, a Princess—fucking—Royal._”

“_Raihan!_” Leon burst out laughing, and Raihan beamed at him. 

“_Boy, the sex after that would’ve been fantastic. We’d be in my old room, too. Shit, maybe I should’ve brought you in to meet them, after all._” 

“Ugh, you sex maniac.” Leon laughed, snuggling back against the pillows warmly, and Raihan grinned at him. 

“_Says the guy in my old pyjamas, cuddling up against a pillow and looking exactly the way I see you right before I pound you into the mattress._” 

“Jeez!” Leon laughed, and the both of them burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re _so _horny. I bet your rut’s approaching.”

“_Ugh, probably._” Raihan groaned, and Leon gave him a sympathetic smile. “_Not looking forward to getting horny on the road._”

* * *

“_Oh!_” Leon’s smile was so beautiful, and the way the sunlight made his eyes sparkle made a warmth settle in Raihan’s chest. “_You… you made it!_”

“Yeah.” Raihan grinned, sitting back against the headboard of his bed as he stroked his snoozing Swablu on his lap. “I finally beat Cynthia.”

“_Oh, Raihan!_” Leon gasped. “_I’m so happy for you! When are you leaving her mansion?_”

“Tomorrow morning. We’re pretty far away from Jubilife City, so we’re gonna head out early.” 

“_That’s wonderful._” Leon sighed happily. “_Look at you. Off on a new adventure._”

Raihan beamed at him, and Leon’s smile was soft, full of love and warmth. 

“I know. I can’t wait.” He said, and moved his phone down to let Leon see the sleeping Janus on his lap. “I’ve got this big bugger with me tonight.” 

“_Hello, Swablu!_” Leon cooed.

“He’s asleep,” Raihan explained, and Leon nodded. “But I let Cynthia name him. A sort of souvenir I have to remind me of her while I’m on the road.”

“_What did she name him?_” 

“Janus.” He replied, “Means new beginnings, which, I gotta say, is really fitting.” Raihan smiled down at Janus softly. “This guy’s saved me more than enough times.”

“_Oh, speaking of which—how’s Aphis?_”

Raihan deflated at that. “I have some bad news.”

“_No._” Leon breathed.

“She’s lost her secondary typing.” Raihan said, and Leon blinked at him. “We’re not sure _how, _exactly, but she can’t do the stuff she could before. She’s lost the ability to sense Bug-type pheromones, and her Combee’s been missing for a while.”

“_You don’t think it could be just a side-effect of the GWeez?_” Leon hummed. “_It does temporarily sorta disable your dragon typing. Uh, at least that’s how I _think _it works._”

“I haven’t a clue, Lee.” Raihan sighed. “But it happened after I had a pretty weird dream. Wanna hear it?” Leon nodded at him, and he continued. “I dreamt we were back on the Isle of Armour.”

“_We? Like you and me?_”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “We just talked for a while, and I ended up wishing Aphis never had her secondary typing.”

“_Rai…_” Leon breathed, but Raihan shook his head.

“I wished that so she didn’t have to suffer as she did. I even got mad at Arceus for it.” Raihan huffed, shaking his head. “Cynthia has a theory that maybe Arceus had something to do with it.” 

Leon’s eyes widened, and Raihan raised an eyebrow at him.

“_That’s… what I thought, too._” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “_But Sonia and I thought that’d be too weird. But what if…_”

“I dunno.” Raihan sighed, and Leon gave him a helpless smile. “I guess at this point, all we can do is wait it out.”

“_I suppose._” Leon sighed, and lightened up. “_Well, I guess I better get ready to head out. I’m stealing your silk pyjamas, by the way._”

“By all means.” Raihan rolled his eyes. “Do you even know how to access the closet?”

“_Please tell me it’s powered by a remote control._” Leon said, his eyes sparkling in wonder, and Raihan laughed, shaking his head. 

“Sorry, no. It’s next to the ensuite. Should be a hidden panel in there—”

“_But it’s a tiny mall in here!_” Leon exclaimed, and Raihan burst out laughing. “_Raihan, you have a _mall _in here!_”

“Pick out whatever you like, Lee.” Raihan wiped at his eyes, shaking his head fondly. Oh, he loved this man. 

“_What if I want it all—oh shit! There’s jewelry in here?_”

“Yes, the jewelry is fair game.” Raihan hummed. 

“_You really _are _that princess from Sonia’s movies, holy shit._”

“Nah, not at all.” Raihan smiled, watching as Leon whirled around his closet, looking around excitedly. “After all, I know the man I’m gonna marry.”

Leon stopped, and turned to smile at Raihan on his phone.

“And besides,” Raihan hummed. “_My _happy ending ends in a wedding.”

Leon smiled at him, and blew him a kiss. “_I love you too, Raihan._”

“Love you.” He grinned, and rested his chin on his hand, content to watch Leon explore his old closet.


	34. The Spikemuth Restoration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m glad I learned this. I’m… proud to be the Gym Leader here, where I grew up. I should know all these things.”

“Good morning, sir! Is that a new suit?” Ricki asked, her eyes wide at Leon as he strode into his office, grinning from ear to ear. He nodded, adjusting his cuffs daintily, pulling out his Dynamax band out from his left pocket to set it down on his desk. 

“Well, just the jacket. What do you think?” he asked eagerly, turning around to let her see.

“Sir! It’s _gorgeous!_” Ricki gasped, nodding as she looked him over. 

[The double-breasted suit jacket](https://scontent.fmnl3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/117169228_688147918448951_308894594171814742_n.png?_nc_cat=103&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=EaddZl2gDEgAX_Z0dJt&_nc_ht=scontent.fmnl3-1.fna&oh=eacffac53a6fbc87bbb716006c7fb2f7&oe=5F4DD2BA) had been from Raihan’s closet—an older piece, Raihan told him, hand-made by a batch valedictorian of Hammerlocke U’s Clothing Tech department for her thesis. The jacket was lined with a gorgeous, royal red cotton that matched the shimmering red silk of the outer fabric, and proudly bore hand-embroidered tessellate designs that reflected Turtonator spines in bronze and gold. The two-tone gold and black collar of the jacket stood up straight around his neck, halting at the throat as a pair of lapels crossed over each other in an elegant swoop of red and black. Behind him, twin coattails the shape of a Turtonator tail fluttered delicately in the soft breeze of his office air conditioning. 

“Oh, it looks like Mr. Raihan’s Turtonator!” Ricki cooed, clasping her hands together as she looked up at her employer with stars in her eyes. “Is it? Is it?”

“Apparently, yeah. It was made for Raihan, specifically, so the fit around my chest’s a little tight.” Leon chuckled, unbuttoning the jacket with a sigh as he sat down, looking over the papers that Ricki had laid out on his desk for that morning. “Hammerlocke U apparently pulls him in to model for thesis clothing designs whenever he’s free, and he keeps them.”

“That’s so sweet of him.” Ricki smiled softly, and Leon laughed fondly, nodding. 

“He’s got whole suits in his old bedroom in Hammerlocke, apparently. I dropped in and nabbed some.” 

“Must be nice.” Ricki sighed happily, and Leon grinned at her. 

“It is.” He said fondly, and he shook his head. “Okay, let’s get the day started. What’ve we got?” 

“Right!” The young woman nodded, and looked at her tablet. “Today, you’ll be visiting Spikemuth in the morning at 10 AM. We’ll be heading to Hammerlocke for lunch with Leader Marnie, and then you have a conference call with Professor Kukui at 1 PM.” Leon nodded, humming in thought as he picked up the warm pot of tea from Charkie’s back and poured himself a cup. “We’ll then be meeting with Miss Oleana over at RND at 3 PM to talk about… the, uh. Eternabatt.”

“Eternabatt.” Leon chuckled fondly, shaking his head as he remembered the little Champion’s affectionate nickname for Oleana’s biggest project to date. 

“Eternabatt.” Ricki nodded sagely. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Leon agreed, and his good mood dissipated somewhat when he thought about what Narcissus said the night before. “Hey, Ricki?”

“Yes, sir?” His assistant asked. 

“Could you see if you could arrange a meeting with Leader Sena for me?” He asked, and Ricki blinked at him. Leon gave her a withering smile. “He’s supposed to have moved in by now, right?”

“Oh, yeah.” Ricki hummed. “Now that I think about it, I think I heard on the telly that he’s already in Derbyton, since, uh. Last night?” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to scroll through something—probably her social media timeline, Leon reasoned—and nodded. “Yeah, seems it. People have seen Leader Sena, Leader Kabu and…” She stopped, and blinked at her phone. 

“Ricki?” Leon asked, cocking his head at her. 

“I, uh.” Ricki stammered. “My friend’s with them. That’s—that’s weird.” She squinted at her screen, and muttered something. Leon could only make out ‘_police officer’, _and he frowned. “Oh, whatever. I’ll talk to her about it later.” She dismissed the thought with a huff. “Would you like me to contact Leader Sena and make an appointment to meet later?” 

“Yes, please.” Leon nodded, and Ricki turned to her tablet, when he shook his head. “Tomorrow. Make it tomorrow.” He said, and she cocked her head at him. “I’m sure he’ll be busy moving in. Just ask him when he’ll be available, I’ll have him over for dinner or something.”

“Got it.” She nodded, and gestured at the papers on his desk. “There’s some more stuff from the Aether Paradise project on there, by the way. And Miss Lillie should have a message for you to look at about her flight here.”

“Right, right.” Leon nodded, waving his hand over the desk to bring up the holographic screen on the left side, a multicoloured holographic keyboard materialising by his left hand. “Thanks so much, Ricki. I’ll see you in,” He checked his watch, and smiled wryly as he picked up the tea kettle from Charkie’s back to set it on a mug warmer pad on his desk. “Two hours.”

“Two hours, sir.” She nodded, and strode out the door, Charkie in tow. Leon buried himself into his work, only dimly hearing the daily announcements in Oleana’s clipped tone being played throughout the building. Leon smiled to himself, thinking about the blonde in the lower floors of the building, likely already with her nose buried in a new scientific journal while she played her recorded message for the day.

He’d found out about her little trick by accident, really—he walked into the announcement booth in his first month as CEO, still hopeless with directions as ever, while she did her daily announcements. He caught her half-asleep with her head in her arms, holding her phone up to the microphone as it played her pre-recorded message. Oleana had jolted awake at that, but at least the both of them had the presence of mind to keep themselves quiet while Oleana’s message played. 

After that, they had shared a coffee break, and Leon felt like he was talking to a completely different woman. 

Oleana was much happier now, he thought. Free of Rose just as much as he was, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Leon hummed when he saw Lillie’s email to him, and nodded as he sent back a reply. 

“So, she’s coming over next month to get things started. Sounds… about right.” He looked through the papers on his desk, and sighed in relief at a folder labelled _APPROVED PERMITS_ in Ricki’s handwriting. He picked it up, leafing through them to find the approved papers for the construction that would begin the next month. “Motostoke… Wild… Area.” He huffed, signing a few more papers that came with a permit, and smiled down at the papers. 

“Hop’s very own research lab…” He hummed to himself. “He’s really grown up, hasn’t he…”

Wistfully, he thumbed at the Pokéball harness on his leg, and he smiled, shaking his head when he felt Red’s ball wiggle in his hand. Today, he had Red, Danny and Calanthe with him, the dragon finally discharged from Villea’s care after her two Axews finally reached their first month of life. Calanthe had been so confident when she entrusted her babies to Villea, and Leon couldn’t help but feel at awe at how well Hammerlocke took care of dragons. 

“Fine, you can come out.” He chuckled, and his three Pokémon popped out of their balls, Red landing on the ground with a satisfying _thud _before taking up an obnoxiously large space on Leon’s balcony to sunbathe. Danny rolled his eyes, his arm akimbo as he made his way over to the couch, sitting down daintily as he began to gently flow water between his fingers. Calanthe settled down next to her trainer, insistently nudging her head into his lap, and Leon laughed as he scooted back to let her. He read through more papers, humming absentmindedly as he signed a few more, and before he realised it, Ricki was peering back into the room, smiling at him. 

“Oh, it’s time already?” Leon blinked at her, and she nodded, stepping into the room—and jumping in alarm when Danny gently squirted water at Calanthe’s tail. “Danny, be nice.” Leon said firmly, as the dragon on Leon’s lap jerked awake, hitting her head on the underside of Leon’s desk. Red also jerked awake from where he was napping on the balcony, letting out a choked roar. Ricki burst out laughing as her Growlithe ran into the office, barking happily as she bounced up onto Red’s belly.

“Charkie!” She scolded half-heartedly, and Leon grinned at her as she made her way past Danny’s long legs—the Inteleon never bothered to tuck his legs in, cheeky thing—and stood in front of Leon, a bright grin on her face. “We’re off to Spikemuth, sir.”

“Right.” Leon nodded, getting up from his seat with a huff. “Flying Taxi, I presume?” 

“Yes, sir. There’s one waiting for us on the roof deck.” Ricki nodded, and she and Leon turned to the balcony at the sound of Red’s soft growl. The assistant laughed when she saw Charkie limp like a ragdoll in Red’s claws, looking far too satisfied with herself, and she shook her head. “Get back in here, you little rascal.” She huffed, and put her Growlithe back into her Pokéball. Leon chuckled, and got to putting Danny, Calanthe and Red into their own Pokéballs, but not without pressing a kiss to Calanthe’s head where she’d bumped it. 

“Right, let’s head out.” Leon nodded, and gestured for Ricki to lead. “After you.”

* * *

“An’ so, all we’s got left is a bit of the central square, the business district, an’ the Gym.” The man said, pointing at the map he and Leon held together, and Leon hummed, nodding. “Leader Marnie’s house is done, we had some help come over to sort it out n’ restore it as before.” 

“Really?” Leon blinked, straightening up as he adjusted his hard hat. “Who?”

“That’d be me,” Marnie said from behind him, and Leon jumped, whirling around to see the teen smiling at him slightly, her left arm akimbo as she gave him a little wave. She was in her Gym uniform, with her leather jacket resting on top of her shoulders. “Piers helped too, but he ate right through my mobile data.” 

“Marnie.” Leon smiled at her, gesturing for her to come over, and the head engineer gave her a nod, tipping his hard hat at her. “We were just talking about how things were going.”

“We’ve been moving people back in already, actually.” She said, and the engineer nodded.

“I’m honestly su’prised at how many folks y’can keep in ‘ere,” He said, gesturing at the roof above them. “Spikemuth’s completely indoors, as before, but _dang,_ makes ya wonder. Wan’t like _this_ before.” 

“Really?” Leon blinked, and Marnie nodded. 

“Spikemuth used to be a bit… bigger.” She said, and deflated slightly, rubbing her arm. “At least, that’s what my brother said… Mr. Dell, too.”

“Yeah.” The man nodded, “Back then, a lil’ bit before you was born, I reckon.” He gestured at Marnie, who blinked at him owlishly. “Spikemuth used to be this lovely, _massive _place. Right next to the sea, a right rust bucket.”

“A rust bucket.” Marnie breathed. “Yeah, I do kind of remember the smell of ocean rust.”

“Ocean rust! That’s what yer folks woulda called it.” Dell gave Leon a wink. “Ah reckon Mr. Chairman ‘ere might remember what Spikemuth was like the last time he was ‘ere as a Challenger.”

“Now that you mention it…” Leon hummed. “I remember as a little kid that there was supposedly a seaport here? And a mine?”

“I heard about the mine.” Marnie nodded, and Leon was surprised to see the spark of wonder in her eyes. “Mr. Dell, would it be alright if you had lunch with us? I want to hear more about Spikemuth from you.”

“Me too.” Leon said, and the man gave them a grin. “I mean, I’ll have to tell Ricki, but I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“Well, if my boss says so,” he gestured at Leon, who laughed sheepishly, flushing as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Aw, nah. Don’t mind. But, er—didn’ you have a sumn-sumn over yonder Hammerlocke, sir?”

“I was the _sumn-sumn,_” Marnie said, and Leon couldn’t help but smile when Dell and Marnie shared a private grin. “Mr. Chairman, I hope you won’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Leon shook his head, gesturing at Marnie. “Take the lead, Marnie. I wanna see what the business district looks like, anyway.”

* * *

The lunch with Dell was enlightening, Leon thought, watching as Marnie fed her Morpeko some scraps as the head engineer excused himself and left to get back to work. 

[Spikemuth had been a mining town, back then](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1263101740276051968?s=20). A [mining town](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1263107859299962881?s=20) at the mouth of a river that led into Circhester Bay and the Gulf of Armour beyond that, and was one of the oldest cities in Galar, besides Hammerlocke, Circhester and Stow-on-Side. Spikemuth exported gold and steel, with a seaport that connected Galar with the Isle of Armour—or, at least, whatever the archipelago was called before Mustard bought it. 

“No wonder the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce logo was a Klink.” Marnie said, and Leon snapped out of his thoughts to look at her as she set Morpeko down on the booth seat next to her. They were in a small pub lit with the characteristic neon of Spikemuth, but it was far from seedy—everything was charmingly _punk _and yet so brand-new, and the plates of curry they were using were still without scratches. 

“I guess.” Leon murmured, and she hummed, resting her chin on her hand as she rested her elbow on the table. 

“So it was mining.” She hummed. “It was mining that drove Spikemuth from the sea to the underground.”

Leon’s expression tightened, as he looked down at his hands. 

According to Dell, the gold eventually ran out, as everything did. Spikemuth had grown smaller after that, but they were able to survive with steelwork. There was evidence of Spikemuth’s golden days, now that Leon took the time to look—the roof above the town was supported with a lattice network of fine metalwork, stained red with the ocean rust of days long past, yet still holding strong. The steelwork had been fine—until competition drove Spikemuth deep underground. 

“Magiflora Mining.” Leon said darkly. 

“To be fair, it existed in the area at the time.” Marnie said, and Leon blinked up at her as she scrolled through her phone, apparently reading articles online about it. “It started off in Hammerlocke, after all. Not that far away from Spikemuth.”

“It didn’t have to kill your home like that.” Leon said darkly, and Marnie shook her head. 

“Wasn’t the thing that killed us.” She said, meeting his gaze evenly. “And I was there to see it happen.”

Leon blinked at her, and she sighed, leaning back in her seat. Her hair had grown longer since the time she became Gym Leader—and _de facto _unofficial mayor of Spikemuth, come to think of it—but she also had an undercut on the left side of her head. She twirled a lock of her hair absently. 

“Piers doesn’t like talking about this with me, so I had to learn from Mr. Dell.” She explained, and Leon sighed. 

“I know the feeling.” He said, and thought of Hop, and the secrets Leon kept for over a decade. 

She gave him a meaningful look, and looked down at the peas and stray rice grains left over on her plate of curry. 

“I’m glad I learned this. I’m… proud to be the Gym Leader here, where I grew up. I should know all these things.”

“That’s good.” Leon nodded. 

“That’s why I want you to know something, too.” Marnie said. “Mr. Chairman—”

“Just call me Leon.” He gave her a kind smile, and she blinked at him. “Only if we’re in private, if it makes it easier for you.”

Marnie’s pale cheeks turned pink. 

“L-Leon.” She said, and Leon nodded at her. “There’s a reason why Spikemuth was left to rot when I was little.”

Leon frowned at that, and Marnie took a steadying breath. 

“It was Macro Cosmos.” She said, and Leon’s eyes widened at her. “It took a lot of convincing for Team Yell to accept my decision to accept your help, because Macro Cosmos was the reason why Spikemuth is the way it is now.”

“I…” Leon hesitated. “I had my suspicions.”

“Yes.” Marnie nodded. “My brother’s refusal to use Dynamax was because of that, too.”

Leon’s expression tightened. 

“Piers never really discussed this with me until I became Gym Leader.” She sighed. “He said it was my turn to run Spikemuth the way I wanted to—no more of the anger he used to run it with.”

“Anger…” Leon breathed. 

Marnie peered out of the window with a sigh. 

“A long time ago, my brother catapulted the Dark-type Gym into the Major League.” She smiled slightly, absently stirring her soda with her straw. “Just like Leader Sena did last month.”

Leon smiled slightly at that.

“Yeah, I remember when that happened.” He said and Marnie’s smile was fond. “Piers was amazing. He beat out all the Gym Leaders without Dynamaxing.”

“Yeah.” She replied. “At the time, not all Gyms were built on top of Power Spots, but all the Major League Gyms were beginning to. When he put Spikemuth on the map, the old Chairman wanted to build a Dynamax stadium for the Dark-type Gym.”

“I heard about that too.” Leon said, and Marnie nodded, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. 

“But that meant that the Dark-type Gym would be built on a Power Spot, and Spikemuth didn’t have one.” She continued. “So Piers refused.”

“That’s Piers for you.” Leon chuckled softly. She smiled at that. 

“He refused because the whole point of joining the Major League was to revitalise Spikemuth. But because of his refusal, funds from MC stopped coming, and no one seemed to want to sponsor him.” She said, and Leon deflated at that. Marnie shut her eyes, and sighed. “So now he continues to refuse Dynamaxing, out of protest to what Chairman Rose did to us.”

“I’m… I’m sorry that happened to the both of you.” Leon sighed, and Marnie cocked her head at him. “After all, a tough life… means a tough childhood.”

Marnie looked down at Morpeko, who cuddled her comfortingly.

“Piers loves you very much, Marnie.” Leon said. “I know that, at least. The reason he’s been working so hard for Spikemuth, I think, was because of you.”

“I know.” She smiled, and Leon blinked at her. “We had this talk already.” Marnie giggled softly, and Leon felt his cheeks grow hot. “But it’s nice to hear. I’m glad we’re changing Spikemuth for the better, Leon. Thank you. It really means a lot.”

“You’re welcome.” Leon smiled, and she got up. Her Morpeko leapt off the booth seat to stand at her heels. 

“Well, I think it’s about time we head off to the Gym? Since we cut your Hammerlocke meet time, I think we can talk a little more.” 

“Of course.” Leon smiled, getting up as well. On the other side of the restaurant, Leon spied Ricki finishing off paying for their meals, and he nodded. “After you, Leader Marnie.”

Marnie gave him a grin, and Leon wondered how much more frequently she was smiling nowadays. 

“Right this way, Mr. Chairman.”


	35. Business As Usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s this?”
> 
> “Something I should have shown you a long time ago.”

The new Spikemuth Gym was going to be much further underground than Leon anticipated. He should’ve realised it, though—if they wanted to keep Spikemuth under cover, then the Gym would have to adjust. The construction team was currently in the middle of digging out the whole space, and Leon remembered that the little Champion was scheduled to come over to help with Eternatus.

“Mr. Dell said that Spikemuth had no chance of being a Power Spot, which was weird for its age.” Marnie said, as she and Leon accepted hard hats, and strode into the dig site to look things over. “Hammerlocke and Circhester were both very old, but had Power Spots, regardless.”

“With no nearby Power Spots, huh.” Leon murmured, thinking about the Isle of Armour right across them—there was a Power Spot behind the Dojo, and he knew there were Raid Dens everywhere, little pockets of power that leaked out from little wounds in the earth. “I don’t remember seeing Raid Dens in the area, either.”

“Yeah.” Marnie nodded. “Miss Oleana said that Raid Dens were like… _extensions _of Power Spots?” She asked, looking at Leon, and he nodded. 

“Motostoke, Turffield, Hulbury and Hammerlocke provide power for all the Raid Dens in the Wild Area.” He said. “There’s… a long story behind Power Spots, but I think we’ll make it work. Gloria’s Eternatus should be able to help.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Marnie asked quietly, and Leon shook his head, patting her shoulder.

“It will.” He said reassuringly, and Marnie looked up at him. He smiled at her, but she looked down at the ground.

“I’m sorry if this is a little forward of me, Leon, but do you really think so?” She asked, “The last time someone tried to use Eternatus...”

Leon’s eyes widened, as Rose’s eerily-placid smile crossed his mind. 

“_No,_” he said, a little more forcefully than he would have liked, and Marnie jumped, jerking away from him. “I…” He hesitated, and deflated. “I—I won’t. I’m not like him.”

She looked at him uneasily. 

“It won’t be like last time.” He said shakily, and squeezed her shoulder. “I… I have to go.”

“I’m sorry.” Marnie said, but Leon shook his head. 

“I promise, Marnie, we’ll bring a Power Spot here.” He told her, unable to meet her gaze. “No matter what it takes. We’ll right what Rose did wrong, I swear.”

Marnie’s shoulders sagged, but she nodded. 

“Thank you.” She said quietly, and patted his hand. “Just… don’t lose yourself along the way, okay?”

Leon blinked at her, but she hid under her hard hat. 

“You’d better get going.” She mumbled. “Miss Ricki seems to be looking for you.”

“Mr. Chairman!” Ricki called from beyond the dig site. “We’ve gotta get moving, your next meeting is in 30 minutes!”

Leon looked back at Marnie, and sighed. 

“I’ll see you soon, Marnie.” He said gently, patting her shoulder one last time, before striding away. Marnie looked up from the ground to watch him leave, and gingerly picked up her Morpeko from the ground. 

“I hope to see you soon, too.” She murmured. “Good luck, Mr. Chairman…”

* * *

“_I see! Well, the way I see it, I suppose you have to start looking at the source of pollution, yeah._” 

It was so good to see Professor Kukui again, and even more enlightening to listen to him explain how Alola managed to maintain its pristine environment. 

“Macro Cosmos has started pulling out all of our mining facilities. We’re planning on making a change to other sources of energy, like the geothermal plant in Circhester.”

“_Hm, that’s a good start, but I’m a little concerned about the power demand._” Kukui replied. “_Aether Paradise alone eats up a lot of energy. From what I’ve heard from my wife, they could barely keep up the supply with solar and geothermal power alone._” 

“Really?” Leon blinked, and Kukui nodded.

“_Of course, Aether Paradise only generates as much as it needs, and it’s very much off the grid. They only ever turn to the Wela Volcano Geothermal Plant when they desperately need energy._” Kukui hummed. “_But I suppose that’s a lot different from what it’s like for Macro Cosmos?_”

“Yes.” Leon nodded, sighing gravely. “We have to sustain two Power Spots in Wyndon alone, and the rest of the city on top of that.”

“_Sounds tough._” Kukui frowned. “_I don’t want to suggest closing something down, though. Your Pokémon League is important for commerce as well…_” He crossed his arms, and Leon couldn’t help but stare at the sparkling silver band around the man’s finger. He thought about Raihan across the world from him, and Leon subconsciously smiled at the thought that someday, he, too, would wear a ring like Kukui did. “_You see, the energy situation in Alola is a lot different. We get plenty of sunshine, so we’ve invested in a whole lot of solar power sources._” 

He huffed, shaking his head. “_It does help that our current Champion has a Solgaleo, which helps tremendously with power costs during truly desperate times._”

“Sol… Solgaleo?” Leon blinked. 

“_Oh, it’s a Legendary Pokémon._” Kukui beamed at him. “_[Skye](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1292461707118297088?s=20)—that’s our Champion, by the way—caught one during our Legendary Lockdown, and it can harness the power of the sun. But anyway—about the diversity problem, I do think that cleaning up Galar is the first step. Your best indicator that nature has healed enough is when you see a non-native Pokémon naturally reappear in the wild._” 

“A non-native…” Leon murmured.

“_Maybe not _too _foreign, I mean._” Kukui laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “_Maybe an Exeggutor will do?_” He hummed. “_I think your best argument to repeal Dexit would be when living Corsola, or Kantonian Exeggutors appear in Galar on their own._” 

“I see.” Leon frowned. 

“_Cleanups also help! Planting new trees, too, but make sure they’re native to the area._” Kukui continued. “_You should probably consult with someone like Professor Sonia for that._”

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem.” Leon smiled, and Kukui beamed at him. 

“_That’s great. By the way, could you tell her that I’ve sent out Trial Captain Kiawe’s blood vial to her this morning?_” He asked, and Leon blinked at him. “_I’ve already sent her an email, but I think she’s been busy._” 

“Oh, okay. I’ll drop by her lab and let her know.” Leon nodded, and Kukui sighed, leaning back in his seat. 

“_It’s really something, isn’t it? This secondary typing thing._” He said, and Leon gave him a little smile. “_A long time ago, I wouldn’t have believed in all that stuff—but after witnessing what a secondary-typed individual can do…_” he shook his head. “_I wonder if they can do moves._”

Leon blinked at him. He wondered if he should tell Kukui about Raihan, but he shook his head.

“Who knows.” He replied. “I’m surprised there aren’t more identified individuals in Alola.”

“_We haven’t checked. Kiawe was the one exception, and that was because we found out about his typing the hard way._” Kukui hummed. “_I’m sure you remember the fire that started in Heahea City when you came over?_”

Leon thought back to the last time he was in Alola, and his eyes widened. “Oh, the restaurant fire?”

“_Yeah, the very same. Were you there that night?_”

Leon bit his lip. “Yeah.” 

He shut his eyes, and the clinking of champagne glasses rang in his ears. Rose, sitting beside him, leaning down to whisper in his ear. 

Leon shuddered. “I was.”

“_Then you know how wild the fire got._” Kukui sighed. “_Kiawe was in the area at the time, and he ran into the building to save a tourist who was trying to save his partner Pikachu. He would’ve been burned, but he came out absolutely untouched. The both of them, that is._” 

“Whoa.” Leon breathed.

“_The kid then ran back inside to save more Pokémon. My wife and I were beside ourselves with worry._” Kukui sighed. “_But every single time, Kiawe was untouched. The fire was getting really bad but he wasn’t getting a single burn on his skin._”

Leon gaped at the man, and Kukui nodded. “_That’s when I knew, yeah? The kid’s got something to him. I just never knew what until Professor Sonia wrote about it._”

“Oh, wow.” Leon sat back in his seat. “That’s… that’s amazing, Professor.”

“_I bet!_” Kukui grinned at him. “_Anyway, I hope I’ve helped somewhat._” Both men jumped when they heard the sound of something crashing behind Kukui, and the professor shot out of his seat to head somewhere behind it. “_Satoshi! Oh, jeez. Sorry, I’d better get going!_”

Satoshi. It was odd to hear a Kantonian name on Kukui’s son, but Leon let it be. 

“It’s no problem.” Leon smiled, shaking his head. “Is that… your son?”

“_Yeah!_” Kukui called, grinning as he carried a little boy that was a perfect splice between him and Professor Burnet. The boy had a lopsided hat on his head as he blinked up at Leon in awe. “_Hey, Satoshi. This is Leon._”

“_Mr. Leon!_” The boy squealed, reaching out for Leon. “_Mr. Champion!_”

“Not anymore.” Leon smiled, feeling his cheeks grow warm, and Kukui laughed.

“_Sorry, he grew up watching you battle._” He said, and Leon blinked at him. “_He really loves battling, so I let him watch some championship matches. He really likes it when you battle with Raihan._” 

Leon’s eyes widened at that, and the Professor chuckled fondly, pressing a kiss to his son’s forehead.

“_He says that you look like you’re having so much fun._”

“_That’s why I like it!_” Satoshi huffed, and Kukui laughed.

“_Yeah, that’s right!_” He nodded, and he looked at Leon. “_Not to step out of line, Leon, but I’d like to wish you all the best._”

Leon straightened up. “U-um, of course. Thank you.”

“_Not just with the Dexit repeal,_” Kukui chuckled. “_With Raihan. Just keep holding on, and a year will feel like nothing, I promise._” He looked down at his son, and Leon felt his eyes prickle at the love in Kukui’s eyes. “_Everything will be worth it, in the end._”

“Thank you.” Leon said quietly, “Truly.”

Kukui gave him a nod, and Leon nodded back at him. 

“_Until next time._” He said, and Leon gave him a little wave. “_Satoshi, say goodbye now!_”

“_Bye, Mr. Leon!_” The boy chirped, and Leon smiled at him. “_Let’s battle someday!_”

“Of course!” Leon nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle when the boy excitedly began rambling to his father about what he said as the line cut. As his screen disappeared in front of him, Leon sighed, leaning back in his seat. 

“I’m so _fucking tired._” He groaned, as Ricki peered into the room. He moaned, shaking his head as he rolled over in his seat. “_Nooo. _Give me ten more minutes.”

“That’s what I was gonna ask.” Ricki giggled, and he sat up, blinking at her. “Miss Oleana said she wanted to ask you if you could move your meeting to 3:30. She has an experiment that misbehaved and is now overrunning.” She looked at her watch. “From the looks of things, you might need that extra… 35.” 

“I do.” Leon huffed, and his assistant offered him a sweet smile. She nodded at him, and stepped back outside. Leon slumped down over his desk, peering gingerly at his phone. He lit up when he saw a message from Raihan from an hour ago, and he quickly opened it. 

_Heyyy baby we’re heading out on the road!_

Raihan sent him a selfie of him and Cynthia in her SUV, the morning sunlight gentle on their skin as the sun was just rising. They were both in sunglasses—Cynthia, in a pair of stylishly round tortoise shell frame sunglasses, and Raihan had his gold-frame brown-tint aviators. Cynthia had her eyes on the road as she drove, but she was flashing a peace sign at the camera, while Raihan was winking, also making a peace sign by his cheek. 

“Why does this look like a PokéGram post?” Leon chuckled, shaking his head as he checked his timeline, and sure enough, the same picture was the first thing to show up. Leon laughed softly to himself, turning back to the photo Raihan sent. He sighed wistfully, gently thumbing at Raihan’s face, and huffed to himself. “I should send him a photo of me, too.” He mumbled, straightening up to hold his phone out in front of him. He felt his cheeks burn, and spent the next five minutes or so trying to figure out what to do.

In the end, he settled for a sheepish little grin behind his hat, which found a new home on the corner of his desk, and sent it over without a second thought.

_Sorry I’m not as good at taking selfies as you are._

His phone buzzed immediately, and Leon smiled to see Raihan’s reply. 

_Babeeee you’re so cuteeeee ughhhhh the drive has been so longgggg_

Leon chuckled fondly, shaking his head.

_Be patient. Miss Cynthia’s working hard for you. Have you had breakfast?_

Leon set his phone down to look at the wall clock, counting back the hours to realise that it should almost be 6 AM for Raihan. His phone buzzed, and he looked down to see Raihan’s reply.

_We had drive thru it was the beeeestt. missed having fast food som uch_

Leon smiled at that, and replied.

_We’ll have fast food when you get home._

Raihan’s reply was instantaneous.

_i knew i married the right man_

Leon felt his cheeks burn. 

_Don’t jump the gun._

Raihan suddenly sent him another selfie, and Leon’s eyes welled up at the sight of him pressing a kiss to their engagement ring, which Raihan had pulled out from under his shirt. The amethyst sparkled in the early morning light, and Leon felt his heart flutter.

_i said what i said, mr. husband _

Leon laughed fondly, running his hand down his face as he tried to will his blush away. 

“Oh, Raihan…” He sighed.

_I love you too._

Leon stood up, feeling revitalised as he couldn’t stop grinning. Leave it to Raihan to charge him right up, he thought, as he strode out of his office, making Ricki jump from where she was working at her own desk. 

“S-S-Sir?” She stammered, hurrying up onto her feet as her Growlithe jumped out of her basket bed. 

“Let’s wait for Oleana downstairs.” Leon grinned, gesturing for her to follow him. “_Man, _I feel like I can take on a full herd of Dubwool!”

Ricki hurried after her boss, and smiled fondly as she thought about one of the most recent posts on her PokéGram timeline. 

“Gosh, he really loves Mr. Raihan, doesn’t he?” She sighed happily, looking down at Charkie as the Growlithe barked in agreement. “I can’t wait until they finally get married…”

“Ricki?” Leon called, and the young woman realised he was already in the lifts. “C’mon!”

His grin was utterly radiant, and she couldn’t help but mirror his grin. 

“I’m right behind you, sir!”

* * *

Oleana was methodical, careful and precise in the way she did her work. He watched her move around with as much grace as he was used to seeing her, and he couldn’t help but smile as she set down a Wishing Star at the bottom of a large empty glass cylinder. Next to the cylinder was a more familiar cylinder—a large, metal structure that looked similar to a tin can, with several bars along its side that seemed to indicate levels of something. 

“Gosh, I can never get over Miss Oleana’s lab.” Ricki said, and Leon beamed at her. “All these fancy science doodads… it’s like something straight out of a science fiction film!”

“I know!” Leon bounced in his seat, and looked around. Leon sat with Ricki in the corner of the lab, bundled up in lab coats and wearing goggles, grinning widely as they watched one of the brightest minds of Galar do her magic. 

“Are the stabilisers on?” Oleana called as she patted her hair, checking the integrity of her neat bun. She nodded when she received a thumbs-up from somewhere behind a machine. “Good. Everyone clear back.”

“You have any idea what she’s doing?” Leon mumbled to Ricki, who shook her head. 

“No clue.” She whispered back.

“Okay, standby.” Oleana called, and the whole lab went still as they all stared at the large cylindrical object in front of them. “Test.”

“We are good to go!” A mousy brunet young man called, and Oleana nodded. 

“Firing.” She barked, and pressed a button on the remote she was holding. Leon and Ricki lit up to see the Wishing Star float in its container. “Start the extraction, Peter.”

“G-got it!” The young man—hardly a _man, _really—squeaked, and his Joltik scuttled over his shoulders as he began to type on a nearby terminal. Oleana watched carefully, her expression stony as the Wishing Star began to bob in midair, and slowly but surely, one of the bars—specifically, a yellow one—on the metal cylinder began to rise. “Oh, whoa! Miss Oleana—”

“Shh.” She hushed him sharply, and he shut up quickly as another bar—red, this time—began to rise. 

They stood there, in tense silence, and Oleana shook her head. “Kill it.”

“What? But it’s doing so well!” Her assistant protested, and she raised an eyebrow at him archly. He gulped, and pulled a lever just in time for the metal cylinder to start sparking. The other lab aides in the room all flinched away from the sparks, but Oleana stood firm, glaring at the sparking cylinder until the Wishing Star stopped floating, coming to a soft _thunk_ on the bottom of the glass container. 

“Not enough.” She sighed softly, and straightened up. “We’ll have to increase the power capacity of the battery again. Looks like the models used to project energy output were off.”

“Dang it.” The brunet said, and the lab relaxed, moving back to work on their own little projects. Oleana nodded to herself, and turned to look at Leon and Ricki by the door. 

“Chairman.” She nodded at Leon, who beamed at her as he got up. He strode over to her confidently, looking at the metal cylinder in front of her. “As you can see, Eternabatt progress is two steps forward, three steps back.”

“Must be tough.” Leon nodded. “Looks like you’ve managed to figure out how to siphon the energy from the Wishing Star, though.”

“We’re using the same technology that powers Dynamax stadiums, but on a smaller scale.” Oleana explained. “I don’t think it’s ever been explained to you how that works.”

“Nope.” Leon shook his head. “Sorry, could you show me the ropes?” 

Oleana’s lips pulled up into a tiny smile of fondness.

“Well, as you know, Dynamax stadiums are built on top of Power Spots. The technology that allows you to battle using Dynamax or Gigantamax is siphoned from Galar particle-saturated earth, and that’s directly used to power not only the Dynamax bands, but the rest of the stadium as well.” She explained quickly, but Leon was able to catch up. “There are a total of seven siphons underneath Dynamax gyms, with only two open for normal, day-to-day activity. When Gym competitors use Dynamax, all seven siphons are open, and power is transmitted from the ground and into the Galar particle receptacle inside the Dynamax band.” She gestured at Leon’s wrist, and Leon realised that he’d forgotten his Dynamax band in his office. “Which… you aren’t wearing. Interesting.”

“I… left it upstairs.” Leon said sheepishly, giving her an awkward grin, and Oleana shook her head, but he knew she wasn’t angry at him about it. 

“Not the first time you’ve forgotten important things.” She said, and Leon grinned at her. Oleana couldn’t help but smile back at him. “The thought behind harnessing Wishing Star energy seems to be the right course for sustaining Spikemuth Gym’s need for Dynamax energy. However, as you can see, attempts to harness it are a little… unsuccessful.”

“That’s okay.” Leon nodded, and Oleana huffed. “You’ve got time, Miss Oleana. If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you.”

“Thank you.” She said, and they fell quiet, watching as her lab bustled with life. Ricki made her way over to Oleana’s assistant to chat with him pleasantly. The blonde shook her head, and took Leon by the elbow. “Leon, this way for a moment, if you will?”

“Oh, of course.” Leon nodded, and let Oleana lead him to a metal staircase. She led him to a steel grating walkway above the lab, and they came to a stop above a large, core-like machine deep in the heart of Oleana’s lab. Leon blinked at it, and he peered at Oleana. “What’s this?”

“Something I should have shown you a long time ago.” She sighed, and handed Leon a tablet. “If Mr. Rose was having you train to catch the legendary dragon, Leon, he was having me prepare to kill it.”

“Kill it?” Leon breathed, and she gestured at the tablet. He looked down at it, and his eyes widened to see scans of Oleana’s schematics, written in her elegant script.

_ETERNATUS POWER EXTRACTOR_

“Power… Extractor?” Leon read, and Oleana nodded. 

“The plan had been to wring it dry after you catch and subdue it.” Oleana said, and Leon looked at her in shock. “But I never finished the machine.”

“You…” Leon blinked. “Rose told me…”

“I lied.” The blonde whispered, and the air around them felt unbearably still. “I think… that was the first time I lied to Mr. Rose about something, and it was… to protect something I know would kill me on sight.”

“It was just terrified,” Leon murmured, and the two of them stood still on the walkway, staring down at the large machine that would have taken Eternatus’s life. “It was scared and confused… it was woken up so suddenly, and in an unfamiliar, frightening place.”

“Crowned before its time.” Oleana murmured, and Leon blinked at her, wide-eyed, as a memory flashed before his eyes. 

“_Crowned before your time,_” Rose had said, patting little 10-year-old Leon’s head, and the boy finally stopped crying. “_I’m sorry your crown is far too heavy for a child like you._”

Oleana looked at him meaningfully, and Leon deflated. 

“I just wanted to tell you this before we get in too deep with this Eternabatt project.” Oleana said, and Leon nodded. “That, and Dr. Grana said it was an opportune time to be open about it, considering our progress with him.”

Leon laughed weakly at that, shaking his head. “I’m glad to hear you’re recovering, too.”

Oleana nodded, smiling softly. “The both of us have been through a lot, but I think… at the end of the day, it is too easy to call Mr. Rose truly evil.”

Leon leaned against the bannister of the walkway, and peered at the extractor. 

“He truly wanted what was best for Galar, I know.” Oleana said, leaning on the bannister next to Leon with a sigh as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “But, I think, he lost himself, somewhere along the way.”

_“Don’t lose yourself along the way, okay?”_ Marnie’s voice echoed in Leon’s head, and he shook his head.

“I won’t be the same.” Leon said firmly, and the blonde nodded.

“I believe so, yes.” She replied, and Leon looked up at her. Oleana kept her eyes on the extractor as she continued. “Your circumstances are different.” 

She looked at him, and smiled. 

“More fortunate.” 

Leon’s eyes widened at her, and she straightened up. 

“I am thankful for the life Mr. Rose gave me, despite everything. He found me at the bottom of my despair as a graduate student, and brought me to where I am now.”

“At the cost of what?”

“Everything,” Oleana said, but she was smiling. “But I have become greater than that.”

Leon smiled at her. “You’re strong, Miss Oleana.”

“And you are, too.” She replied, “And I want to thank you, too, Mr. Chairman, for bringing me even further.” Oleana looked different with her hair up, Leon thought, but he realised that he wouldn’t have her any other way, not when she looked so _happy._ “Thank you for allowing me to indulge in the joy of discovery again.”

“It’s nothing at all.” He replied, “I know you liked being in the lab, and I knew asking anyone else to take over MC R&D would be stupid.” Oleana chuckled at that, and he laughed fondly, too. “MC wouldn’t be here without you either, Miss Oleana. Thank you for staying.”

She nodded, and offered her hand for him to shake. 

“Thank you, Chairman.” She said, and Leon shook her hand. “Let’s get back to work.”

“Yeah.” Leon laughed fondly, shaking his head as he let her go. “Okay, walk me through it. What else do you think we need for…”


	36. Great First Impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Trainer Raihan, welcome to the Sinnohan Pokémon League.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw // animal injury.

Raihan had only seen Jubilife City a grand total of two times, both at night, and only for a maximum of thirty minutes. Both of the times he was at Jubilife City was because he’d flown to Sinnoh—the first time was when he was 11, and he got to come along with his parents on a holiday to one of the many resorts in Sinnoh. 

The second time had been a month ago, when he first arrived at Sinnoh to spend the year there. 

Now, Raihan was seeing Jubilife City for the third time, and despite having woken up at 5 in the morning earlier, he was wide awake as Cynthia drove them through the city. 

“Oh, wow…” He breathed, “It’s… it’s a little like Wyndon, isn’t it?” 

“A bit.” Cynthia shrugged. “Though I’d argue that’s because both of those cities are just highly urbanised.” 

“That’s fair.” Raihan laughed fondly, shaking his head. “So, where do I sign up for the League?” 

“The Pokémon Centre near Jubilife Station.” She replied, “It’s the main branch where everyone applies to since I took over as Chairman.”

“Oh?” Raihan blinked at her. “It wasn’t like this before?”

“Not at all.” Cynthia chuckled, shaking her head as she stopped at a red light. “Back in my day, anyone could just saunter up to a Gym and battle the Gym Leader there. When I took over, I set up a registration system so we could keep an eye on all the trainers entering the League circuit.”

The light turned green, and Cynthia drove on.

“Well, that, and so we can verify and prepare for who is actually _qualified _to enter the League championship.” She continued. “I saw that that was how they did it in Kalos a while ago when I went to see Diantha, the Champion then.”

“Huh.” Raihan hummed, nodding as he sat back in his seat. “Do you get people like me signing up for the League circuit?” He asked, and Cynthia hummed, cocking her head in question. “Like… ex-Gym Leaders. Battling veterans.”

“Not really.” She replied, driving into a steel parking lot next to a Pokémon Centre. Raihan stayed quiet as Cynthia parked them into a free slot, and when she pulled on the hand brake, she turned to grin at him. “In fact, you’re the first-ever Gym Leader to go the entire circuit again here in Sinnoh.” She winked at him, and Raihan blinked at her. “Which is why _you, _sir, have the League Chairman with you.”

“Really.” Raihan laughed, shaking his head fondly. “What an honour, ma’am.” He grinned, and she giggled.

“Alright, out the car. C’mon.” She ushered him out of the car, and Raihan stepped out, still snickering. Together, they made their way down from the parking lot, and Raihan lit up when they stepped into the main highway of Jubilife City, looking up at the high-rise buildings that surrounded them.

“Oh, wow.” He breathed, as Cynthia took his arm to pull him along, chuckling. “We’ve been in your mansion for so long, I’d almost forgotten what it was like to be in a city.”

“It's only been a month, Raihan, get a grip.” Cynthia laughed, and the two trainers shared laughter as Cynthia looped her arm around his, walking him towards the Pokémon Centre. “C’mon, let’s get you registered, and then we’ll have lunch.”

“Deal.” Raihan grinned. 

They strode with full confidence to the Pokémon Centre, unmindful of the stares they attracted, and the smartphones that were pulled up, taking photos of them as they walked together. He could hear the onlookers’ chatter—_the Chairman and that Duke Raihan! Whoa!_—and he couldn’t help but grin. He waved at the crowd cheerfully, and Cynthia couldn’t help but do the same, earning them cheers and screams of delight from the fans that had gathered at the Pokémon Centre to see them. 

“This is gonna be all over Pidgetter, I bet.” Raihan grinned at Cynthia, who huffed.

“Well, lucky for me, I _don’t_ have a Pidgetter account.” She elbowed him lightly. “Hey, look over there.”

She gestured at something off to Raihan’s left, and he turned to look at what she was pointing at. He lit up when he saw an advert on one of the bus stops across the Pokémon Centre, bearing a perfume advert that had Leon on it. 

“Oh, shit! Lee!” Raihan laughed delightedly, turning to look at Cynthia. “We’re _totally _taking a selfie with that ad later!”

“No problem.” She laughed, and together, Cynthia and Raihan strode into the Pokémon Centre. Raihan was pleasantly surprised to see Nurse Joy standing at her counter, and he beamed at her as he and Cynthia made their way over to her. Of course, inside the Pokémon Centre there was a crowd that gawked at them, as well, but Raihan was used to the stares. 

Cynthia suddenly spoke in Sinnohan, and Raihan jerked in alarm. The two women shared laughter between them, and he made a show of pouting at them. 

“Not fair!” He huffed, but Nurse Joy simply giggled at him. He sobered up and offered her a charming smile. “Hi, Nurse Joy. I’d like to register for the Gym circuit.” 

“Certainly.” She said in the lingua franca of the world, nodding, and Raihan realised she had a slight Sinnohan accent that tinged her speech. “May I have your smartphone for a moment?”

Raihan whistled lightly, and his Rotom phone came flitting out of his jacket pocket. Nurse Joy lit up, looking up at the phone as it flew around his head. 

“Oh! A Rotom Phone?” She asked, and Raihan nodded, laughing as the Rotom in his phone huffed proudly. “And shiny!”

“Yep.” Raihan replied, catching his phone in mid-flight with a fond laugh, and he held it out for Nurse Joy to take. “Behave, Rotom. We’re trying to register for the League here.” 

Cythia chuckled fondly and said something again in Sinnohan as Nurse Joy got to work on uploading data onto Raihan’s phone. The nurse giggled, nodding as she typed something into the terminal, and Raihan raised an eyebrow at them. 

“Cynthia had better not be making you upload a virus onto my Rotom phone.” He said, and Cynthia shook her head, grinning at him as Nurse Joy handed it back to him. 

“No, not at all.” Nurse Joy shook her head and gestured at the screen behind her. “Please, look this way.” 

Raihan looked up at the screen and jumped when it suddenly lit up. One of his selfies—particularly, the one he used for his personal information that was stored on his phone—appeared on the screen, along with his name, and Gym circuit status. There were six empty slots underneath his information and an additional eight slots under tha. Raihan realised that each of the lowest slots corresponded to a badge. 

“I’ve uploaded an app on your smartphone that will allow us to track and verify your progress.” She explained. “You can check your status via the Sinnohan League app on your phone, or by scanning your personal QR code on any League terminal in any Pokémon Centre or PokéMart everywhere in Sinnoh.” 

“Whoa, that’s neat.” Raihan breathed, inspecting his phone. “Okay, can I change my photo?”

“You can customise your information anywhere via the app.” Nurse Joy explained, and Raihan nodded. 

“Cool, because I took this selfie with an old phone and it looks like I took it with a potato.” Raihan grinned at her, and Nurse Joy giggled brightly. “Thanks.”

“And another thing! As a special participant of the League circuit, a different set of conditions apply to you.” Nurse Joy said, and Raihan nodded. “In the case you would like to see them again, there is a handbook for you that you can access via the app.”

“Got it.”

“But first, please allow me to explain.” Nurse Joy gave him a bow, and Raihan bowed to her too. She chuckled and gestured at the screen again. “To qualify for the Sinnohan League Championship, you must obtain all eight badges in the Sinnoh region. However, as a certified veteran trainer, you are subject under special conditions.”

She lifted a finger. “One! You are free to challenge each Gym in any order you wish.”

Raihan gaped at that, and he looked at Cynthia. The blonde nodded, and Nurse Joy continued. 

“Two! You are only allowed two chances to challenge each Gym. Failure to win the Gym Badge within two attempts will disqualify you from entering the Sinnohan League Championship.”

Raihan nodded.

“Three! Each Gym Leader you face will be allowed to use the same amount of Pokémon on your registered team.” Nurse Joy explained. “Therefore, prior to challenging a Gym, you are required to register your team lineup. You may do so by accessing any League terminal within the vicinity of the Gym.”

“There’s always a Pokémon Centre near every Gym.” Cynthia piped in, and Raihan nodded. “Don’t worry about losing access.”

“Certainly.” Nurse Joy agreed and held her hand out at him. “Would you like to register a team now?”

“Uh, sure.” Raihan nodded and took off his team’s Pokéballs from the harness under his jacket. Nurse Joy brought out a Pokéball port tray, and he set his team down.

“I’ll be updating your Trainer ID.” Nurse Joy explained, and Raihan’s Pokéballs lit up one by one. 

The machine beeped and began listing off Raihan’s team. 

“_Goodra, nickname: Gooms. Flygon, nickname: Darude. Duraludon, nickname: Gladiolus. Swablu, nickname: Janus. Gible, nickname: Gibble._”

Raihan blinked at the screen. “Hold on. Hold—_hold up._”

“Raihan,” Cynthia began, also staring at Gibble’s entry with alarm. “You—don’t tell me—”

“_That’s _how Gible is supposed to be spelled?” Raihan spluttered, and Nurse Joy burst out laughing into her hand. “I… I can’t… all this time…”

“I can’t believe this.” Cynthia shook her head fondly. “Oh, Arceus. You had _no idea. _That Gible was spelled like that. G-I-B-L-E.”

“No bloody clue.” Raihan groaned, looking down at his team. “That’s _fucked._”

“You will have to see the Name Rater, if you’d like to have her name changed.” Nurse Joy offered, but Raihan shook his head.

“Actually, I kinda like it.” He said, “It’s catchy, Gibble. Won’t be causing problems when she’s a big girl.” Raihan grinned at the two women, who huffed fondly. “We’ll keep it.”

“If you insist.” Cynthia huffed, and turned to look at Nurse Joy. “Shall we get the special authorisation pass going?”

“Of course!” The redhead nodded, and Raihan looked at Cynthia, his head cocked. “Trainer Raihan, to formally begin your journey through the Sinnoh Gym circuit, you must present your authorisation letter in order to be granted your authorisation pass.”

“My… what?” Raihan blinked, but Cynthia huffed proudly, pulling out an envelope from the inner pocket of her jacket. She held it up for Raihan to see, before handing it to Nurse Joy.

“I, Cynthia, Chairman of the Sinnohan Pokémon League, authorise Trainer Raihan to proceed through his secondary Gym circuit.” She declared, and Raihan gaped at her. “He has satisfactorily completed my assessment, as required by the guidelines.”

Nurse Joy read the letter and nodded.

“The League recognises the validity of your double battle.” She declared, and the pieces finally fell into place as Nurse Joy handed Raihan a badge shaped like an Ultra Ball. “With that, Trainer Raihan, welcome to the Sinnohan Pokémon League.”

“You required me to win against you to qualify for the League.” He breathed, and Cynthia smiled at him. 

“Yes.” She nodded, as Nurse Joy beamed happily. “And it was for me, too.” The blonde flushed slightly, laughing. “I guess I could never pass up a good Pokémon battle.”

“Jeez!” Raihan laughed and pulled Cynthia into a hug. “Thank you so much, really. I don’t know what I’d do to repay you, Cynthia.”

“Become Champion, that’s what.” She murmured fondly, patting his back as they pulled apart. Cynthia turned to Nurse Joy and gave her a sweet smile as Raihan took his team back. “Thank you for the help.”

“It’s no problem.” The redhead smiled and gave them a bow. “Until we meet again, Miss Chairman, Your Grace.”

“Until next time.” Raihan grinned at her, and Cynthia led him out of the Pokémon Centre. The two of them lit up at the sight of a massive crowd around them, and an exasperated Officer Jenny keeping them back with a little team of Machokes. “Oh! Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Happens all the time!” Officer Jenny huffed over her shoulder and gave them a wink. “Congratulations, Mr. Raihan.”

“Thanks.” Raihan grinned and gave the crowd a wave. “Hello, Sinnoh!” He called, and the crowd cheered happily for him. 

He knew this adventure was going to be nothing like back home, but right now, with all the cameras pointed at him, it was like he never left. He huffed and thrust his authorisation badge into the air.

“I’m in!” He beamed, and at once, a throng of reporters came rushing past Officer Jenny to hold microphones up at him. 

“Duke Raihan!”

“Over here, I’m—”

“—Navarro, from the network—”

Raihan grinned, as Gladiolus popped out of his Pokéball, hissing at the reporters to push them back. They all hurried away from the unfamiliar Pokémon, as Raihan stood beside his oldest friend. 

“Easy, buddy.” He laughed, petting Gladiolus’s side as he raised his hand in the air to steady the reporters. “Okay, one by one, lads. We’re not holding presscons like savages in front of the bloody Pokémon Centre.”

* * *

“You know, something came to mind just now, in our impromptu presscon in the square.”

Raihan was a sight to behold, proudly wearing his authorisation badge on the tooth of his hoodie. The restaurant gave them a wide berth, but neither trainer minded. 

“Yeah?” Cynthia asked, daintily picking up a broccoli with her fork.

“That was pretty public for someone hiding from the Sinnohan government.” He said, and Cynthia shook her head. “Will we be alright?”

“You’ll be okay.” She said reassuringly, “With you so public a figure, people _will _be having their eyes on you. The government won’t risk exposing themselves by trying to keep you locked up, the people won’t have it.” 

Raihan gave her a withering grin. “Must be nice, to have a government that’s scared of its citizens.”

Cynthia smiled into the rim of her wine glass. “Well, the last time something bad happened, literal Pokémon gods walked the earth.”

Raihan shrugged, laughing at that as he raised his own wine glass. 

“Hey, isn’t that…”

“Oh, the dragon? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“What if he goes on a rampage? Oh, that’s dreadful!” 

Cynthia’s smile slid off her face, and she scowled as Raihan sat back in his seat with a sigh, poking at the green peas left on his own plate. 

“Ooh, but he doesn’t look like a Pokémon?” 

“You never know. Should we appeal for Officer Jenny to accompany him?”

“I don’t want my child looking up to _that._” 

The blonde winced, and she looked at Raihan, who began scrolling through his phone, unmindful of the murmurs around them.

“They don’t know what they’re saying.” Cynthia said, and Raihan flashed her a little grin. “I know that the world only recently found out about secondary typed people, but—”

“It’s okay, Cynthia. I’m used to it.” He sat up, swirling his wine glass. “I knew I was causing trouble the moment I stepped into this fancy resto in a freakin’ _hoodie,_ but I don’t give a shit, I really don’t.” Raihan offered her a sweet smile. “Besides, I get a lot of hateful comments online too, whenever I lose to Leon. C’est la vie.”

“But…” Cynthia began, but Raihan shook his head. “Raihan, losing to Leon was something you can control. This,” she gestured around them, at the stares they could feel on their skin, “Is _not _something you can control.”

“What, it’s not my fault I was born a dragon?” Raihan asked, and the restaurant around them fell quiet immediately. Raihan laughed snidely to himself, shaking his head. “Eavesdropping bastards.”

“Raihan…” Cynthia sighed, but he shook his head. 

“I get it. There’ll always be people who look at people like me, and not understand. They’ll hate what they don’t understand, and they’ll hate me for whatever arbitrary reason they come up with.” He said. “It’s nothing new, Cynthia.” 

“But—”

“I may not change _them,_ but I don’t need to waste time thinking about something that doesn’t even directly impact me, like their _feelings _on something I can’t help.” Raihan sat up, and grinned at her as he rested his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. “And I’m gonna have to be honest with you, I’m just doing everything I can to piss off these snobs.”

“Raihan.” Cynthia giggled into her hand, but an explosion outside shook the building, and the two trainers shot to their feet. 

“What the hell was that?” Raihan gasped, pulling out Darude’s ball from his jacket, and Cynthia shook her head. 

“I don’t know. Let’s head outside.” She took Bellona’s ball out from her clutch, and together they hurried out of the restaurant. Cynthia’s eyes widened as a streak of red painted the blue skies of Jubilife City, and she and Raihan deployed their Pokémon. “What the _fuck?_”

“Rotom, a little help?” Raihan barked as he jumped onto Darude’s back. Cynthia got onto Bellona’s back, and the two trainers shot into the air. 

“_Scanning!_” Rotom chirped and beeped. “_Mega Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon! Dragon/Flying type! Mega Evolution fuels its brutality, and it may even turn on the Trainer who raised it. It’s been dubbed the “blood-soaked crescent”._”

“Blood-soaked crescent?” Raihan gasped, as Cynthia clicked her tongue. 

“We gotta go after it!” She snapped, “Bellona, go!”

“Darude, after her!” Raihan ordered, and the two dragons shot onward. They chased after it around the block, until the Mega Salamence slammed into a high-rise building, roaring furiously, but it seemed to finally stop. Cynthia nodded at Raihan, and the two of them brought their Pokémon to the ground. Raihan jumped off of Darude’s back before they landed and held his hand out at his dragon to stand down, as he took a step forward towards the Mega Salamence.

“Raihan!” Cynthia gasped, jumping off Bellona. “What’re you—”

“_Shh._” He hissed, his eyes thinning into slits, and Cynthia’s blood froze in her veins. She felt her whole body fall still, and she realised she couldn’t move. It was just like back then, she realised, in the clearing after Raihan had fired off a Sandstorm. 

Raihan turned back to the dragon, who was sitting in the pile of rubble it made, hissing and growling angrily at everything that came near it. Raihan could see that a rebar had driven through its hind leg, and he winced slightly, clicking his tongue as he held his hands up in the air. 

“Shh.” He said again, gentler this time, as he met the Mega Salamence’s eyes evenly. The dragon snarled, thrashing around the rubble, and he could see the pain in its eyes, fueling its rage as it continued to move, likely hurting itself even more. “_Hold still!_” He snarled, his eyes draconic and wild, his voice taking on an otherworldly timbre as he stepped closer to the Mega Salamence. 

He barely registered the fact that Officer Jenny and other police officers had set up a barricade around them, keeping an eye on the Mega Salamence as he took a few more steps forward. It snarled at him, a little angrier than before, and fired a Flamethrower at him.

Raihan snarled, and Darude shot forward from Cynthia’s side, making her shout in surprise as the Flygon deflected the Flamethrower with a swipe of his claw. 

“Dragon Claw.” Cynthia breathed, looking at Raihan in awe. “Darude knew to use it without a word…”

“Wait! Chairman!” A young man ran up to Cynthia, his eyes wild. “That’s—that’s my Salamence! Please, stop it!”

“What?” The blonde blinked at him, and he nodded desperately, showing her the Key Stone he held. It glowed gently in his palm, and she clicked her tongue, shaking her head. She turned back to Raihan. “Raihan! The trainer’s here! You gotta calm the Mega Salamence down!”

Raihan turned to look at them, eyes narrowed at the trainer, and the young man squeaked, hiding behind Cynthia. As he took his eyes off the Mega Salamence, it swiped its tail at him furiously, and with a look at Darude, the Flygon blocked it off with another Dragon Claw, cawing angrily. Darude threw the Mega Salamence back against the rubble, and the trainer gasped.

“Hey! Don’t hurt it!” He snapped, and Raihan narrowed his eyes further at him.

“_A misbehaving dragon tells me his trainer’s weaker than it is._” He snarled, and the young man reared back like he’d been slapped, as Raihan turned to look at the dragon. “_Behave._”

The Mega Salamence withered back from Raihan as he walked forward, invading its personal space, and he looked at it levelly as the Mega Salamence struggled to resist—

“Come back.” Raihan said, in his normal voice now, and Cynthia felt a weight lift off her chest as the Mega Salamence looked at him in alarm. “Please. Your trainer needs you. It’s okay.”

He gently reached up and stroked the Mega Salamence’s neck. “I’m here. I’m your alpha. I promise it’s going to be okay.” 

The Mega Salamence whined, and Raihan nodded. 

“I know it hurts.” He said, “It’ll stop if you stop. End the cycle of pain.”

“Raihan…” Cynthia breathed, as the Mega Salamence let out a sound akin to a sob. It lowered its head, resting it on Raihan’s shoulder, and much to the awe of the crowd watching them, it reverted back to simply being a Salamence, wrapping its wings around Raihan as he held it close.

“That’s it.” He murmured gently. “Good dragon.” 

“Oh, thank goodness.” Cynthia sighed, and she and the Salamence’s trainer began to walk towards them. Raihan turned to look at Cynthia and grinned. The blonde lit up, her eyes welling with tears, but Raihan’s smile suddenly disappeared. Anger surged up inside him, and Cynthia stopped, the trainer also freezing behind her. “R-Raihan?” she breathed. 

“_Bellona._” Raihan growled, and much to Cynthia’s shock, her Garchomp nodded, and rushed forward to grab the Salamence’s trainer, pushing Cynthia away from them. 

“Wh—what?” Cynthia gasped, stumbling, but she righted herself as the Salamence unwrapped its wings around Raihan, revealing a nut-like device embedded into the crook between its wing and its neck. Her eyes widened. “Is that…”

“_How dare you._” Raihan snarled, and much to Cynthia’s shock, crushed the device in his hand. The Salamence heaved a sigh of relief as metal bits fell to the ground, slumping down with a tired sigh. “Team Rocket scum.”

“Team Rocket?” Officer Jenny gasped, and Bellona lifted the young man into the air. “What—_Team Rocket?_” 

“The controller!” Cynthia pointed at the device lying at Raihan’s feet. “Those are called Rocket Controllers. Team Rocket uses them to control Pokémon they steal and make them obey their every command!”

“_What?_” Officer Jenny’s expression hardened, as she stormed over to the wriggling Team Rocket grunt in Bellona’s arms. “Hand him over here, I’ll arrest this guy and wring him of all the info he’s got!”

Bellona looked at Raihan, and the young man jerked his head at her. She dropped the grunt to the ground unceremoniously, and strode over to Raihan, much to Cynthia’s surprise. She watched as Darude and Bellona worked together to pull the Salamence out of the rubble, wincing when the dragon roared in pain as its injured leg was jostled. 

Raihan clicked his tongue, and Darude sliced the rebar off with a Dragon Claw. The bar remained stuck in the Salamence’s leg as Nurse Joy ran over to them, a little team of Pokémon led by her Blissey behind her. 

“We’ll take it from here, Mr. Raihan.” She said gently, and Raihan looked at her threateningly for a moment, still mostly draconic. Nurse Joy held her ground and stood up straighter. “Please. We’ll treat the Salamence’s wounds right away.”

Raihan bowed his head once in consent, and Nurse Joy heaved a sigh of relief. “Blissey, let’s go.”

“Bliss!” Her partner nodded, and they got to work on loading the Salamence on her adjustable gurney. Cynthia strode up to Raihan and squeezed his shoulder. 

“Raihan.” She said firmly, and the younger trainer finally snapped out of his daze. “There we go. Welcome back.” 

“I… never left.” Raihan said, and Cynthia realised his eyes were still thinned into slits. “I’ve got my handle on these dragon powers. It’s fine.”

Cynthia looked at him sceptically, but Raihan shook his head. “I mean it.”

“If you say so…” she mumbled, and suddenly, the crowd burst into cheers and applause around them. The two trainers jumped, whirling around to look at the crowd they’d gathered, and Raihan finally noticed the number of cameras pointed their way. 

Cynthia laughed nervously. “Looks like _this _will be all over Pidgetter too.”

“Lucky you.” Raihan huffed. “You don’t even _have _a Pidgetter account.”


	37. Fun Little Icebreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “_You and Nurse Joy signed me up!_”

Officer Jenny invited Raihan to the station to give his statement on the happenings after their second impromptu presscon that day alone, and Cynthia excused herself to get something while Raihan was at the police station. Raihan thought that it was odd that Sinnohan police never heard of the controllers, even though they were big news in Galar. 

He told Officer Jenny as much, and she huffed, crossing her arms. 

“This is off the record, but I think there’s been some news blockage for quite some time now.” She said. “Not a lot of stuff coming in, and I can’t help but think the government’s trying something shady.” Officer Jenny shook her head. “But I don’t have evidence, so we can’t just go barging into places.”

“That’s a shame.” Raihan frowned and decided not to tell her about the fact that he was a wanted man by the same government.

“Well, just be careful on your journey, okay?” Officer Jenny gave him an awkward little smile. “I'd better let you get going now. I’m sure you’re eager to get started.”

“I start tomorrow, actually.” Raihan grinned. “Cynthia insisted we enjoy the city today, first.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Officer Jenny grinned. “You can wait for Miss Chairman outside in the lobby.”

“Thanks.” Raihan gave her a wave and headed out of the interrogation room. He sighed as he dropped himself onto one of the couches in the lobby and began to scroll through his phone. 

Sure enough, videos of him confronting and calming the Mega Salamence were already all over social media, and Raihan winced. 

“What an entrance…” he mumbled and read through some articles. He’d followed a few local news outlets on Pidgetter for the time being—all on Cynthia’s suggestion—and he realised how important that was. He’d have to know what was going on—if a Legendary Lockdown was going to happen, he wouldn’t be able to come home to Leon in time. 

** _ HERO GYM NEWBIE CALMS MEGA DOWN WITH SECONDARY TYPING _ **

The headline made Raihan stop. 

“They really just put my secondary typing on blast like that, huh…” he mumbled with a scowl, reading through the article. 

_ JUBILIFE CITY - A Mega Salamence escaped its trainer Wednesday afternoon, at 1:24 PM. Officers stationed near the office building of Quadrangle Gaming along Felicity Avenue reported that this particular Mega Salamence had come from the Paradise Hotel across the building, which is now closed off for investigation by the authorities. Newly-registered Gym Circuit hopeful Duke Raihan of Hammerlocke and Chairman Cynthia of the Pokémon League were on its tail right after its escape. _

Raihan huffed at the title they gave him. “Make me sound like I’m some newbie…” he mumbled but kept reading.

_ Riding their Pokémon—Chairman Cynthia on her ace, Garchomp, and Duke Raihan on his Flygon—they cornered the Mega Salamence at Quadrangle Gaming Tower, where it had crashed into the building. Duke Raihan then proceeded to calm the Mega Salamence all on his own, without battling it, and using only his words and his secondary typing. _

_ Duke Raihan has said in his press conference that he has recently been granted approval to rejoin the Gym circuit here in Sinnoh and has been very open about his secondary typing. No further statements were made regarding the incident. _

Raihan hummed to himself, frowning deeply as he closed the window.

“So much for keeping a low profile, I guess…” He mumbled. 

“Hey. Thanks for waiting.” Cynthia’s voice made Raihan look up, and he gave her a tired grin as she strode in through the front doors of the police station. She grinned at him and held up two slips of paper. “I went back to the restaurant to pay for our meals, but getting these took a bit longer.”

“What’re those?” Raihan blinked, and she waved them at him. 

“Tickets to a Pokémon Contest.” She said, and Raihan sat up straighter.

“Oh, I’ve heard of those.” He nodded. “They got super popular in Kalos, didn’t they?”

“The Kalosians really upped the game for these contests.” Cynthia shook her head, as Raihan got up to take one of the tickets from her. “This is for the junior division, by the way.”

“Junior division.” Raihan echoed, inspecting the ticket. “And here I thought you’d have us see the big leagues.”

Cynthia shrugged at that, and ushered Raihan to come outside with her. 

“It was what was on today.” She said, “The big leagues are for tomorrow, at a much later time, too. You wouldn’t be able to call Leon, if ever.”

“Oh, I see.” Raihan hummed, nodding as he and Cynthia strode out of the police station. “So… what’s this for, exactly?”

“I said we were going to enjoy the city, right?” The blonde gave him a grin. “Sure, we got a little side-tracked, but I wanted you to relax a little before hitting the road.”

“Thanks.” Raihan gave her a little grin. “Then shopping, later?”

“You know it.” She nodded. “Just don’t say Professor Rowan didn’t warn you about how indecisive I can get.”

“It’s just with food.” Raihan elbowed her lightly, and Cynthia laughed. “But don’t worry. I’ll keep you on a short leash.”

* * *

“Thanks. I’ll get it sorted out tomorrow.” Leon nodded, letting the man shake his hand for a second longer with a sigh before he let go. 

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman! Take care!”

Leon gave them one last wave, before turning to Red, who was looking at him expectantly. He gave his oldest friend a little smile, patting his neck. “I’ll be off now.” He announced and got onto his back. With a gentle prod to Red’s side with his foot, Leon and his partner shot into the crisp night air of Motostoke, sighing tiredly as he looked out at the city sprawled out beneath him. 

Red growled sympathetically, and Leon sighed, nodding as he petted Red’s neck. 

“I know, today’s been pretty long, hasn’t it…” He yawned in the middle of his sentence, and looked at his phone, trusting Red to fly them back to Wyndon on his own. “Tomorrow, I gotta meet… hm. And then…”

He mumbled to himself as he looked through his to-do list (shared on a cloud with Ricki, who could also keep track of it), absently petting Red’s head. 

“Miss Lillie in two weeks… Sena meeting…” Leon grumbled, shaking his head as he closed his to-do list, accidentally opening his Pidgetter app instead. “Ah, fuck.” He grumbled, but then he stopped, when he saw Raihan on his timeline. “Huh?”

He blinked, tapping the video, and his eyes widened as he watched Raihan coax an unfamiliar, dragon-like Pokémon from a ruined building. His heart shot to his throat at the times the dragon attacked him, but by the end of the video, Raihan held the dragon close, hugging it as it wrapped its wings around him.

Leon smiled down at his phone, feeling his heart swell at the sight of Raihan.

“That must be his Dragon typing.” He murmured. “There’s no other way.”

He thought back to the time when Raihan first gave him Calanthe as a little Axew, watching in awe as his then-boyfriend spoke to the little dragon with a firm voice, eyes thinned into slits. Calanthe listened to him raptly, and Leon couldn’t help but do the same, watching as Raihan gently instructed the baby dragon.

Ever since, Calanthe had never hurt him. Pistachio, and his little girls too. 

Dragons were known to hurt their trainers from time to time, except those who had the blood of dragons in their veins, it would seem. It only seemed right that only Raihan would have calmed the dragon down. 

It seemed they had a lot to talk about tomorrow. 

Leon smiled to himself and leaned forward to snuggle against Red’s warm scales. 

He couldn’t wait.

* * *

Pokémon Contests were… not quite what Raihan was expecting. The last time he had heard about Sinnohan Pokémon Contests, they were a little less personal, with only the Pokémon performing while their trainer coordinated them. Now, they were dancing along with their Pokémon, and Raihan found himself a little too enthusiastically cheering every single little boy and girl on stage, even those that had lost their nerve and had burst into tears. Cynthia thoroughly enjoyed herself too, seeing Raihan cheer for children he had no connection to, and had gained more than a few incriminating photos of him dancing in the crowd in support.

By the end of it, a little curly-haired girl with a Combee and a Cutiefly won the ribbon, and Raihan and Cynthia sobered up very quickly. The skies were beginning to turn from blue to purple by the time they strode out of the contest hall, sighing fondly as the brisk night air of Jubilife City refreshed them. 

“Wonder how Aphis is doing.” Raihan mumbled, and Cynthia smiled at him fondly. 

“I’m sure she’s fine.” She replied, and Raihan hummed. “But I do know one thing. If she keeps an eye on the news, she’ll see what you’ve done for that Mega Salamence.” 

Raihan’s eyes widened at her. 

“I’m sure she’ll feel better about her own secondary typing.” Cynthia smiled. “Because she can see that you’ve been making such a positive change in the world.”

Raihan laughed sheepishly at that, rubbing his arm. “Heh… you think?”

Cynthia squeezed his shoulder. “I _know._”

Raihan gave her a grin, and Cynthia let him go. They strode past a store that had loudspeakers out front, and Raihan lit up when he recognised the song that was playing—it had been playing earlier too, during one of the Contest performances. 

“Hey, Cynthia, check it out.” He said, and Cynthia lit up when he began to dance. It was an easy hip-hop beat that was on the slower side, easier for children and first timers to follow along, and Raihan was soon swinging with the beat.

“Well, well! Someone’s a dancer!” 

“I’m sure Leon would’ve told you at some point!” Raihan said and did a backflip. 

“Oh, shit!” Cynthia laughed. “Do it again!”

“No way!” Raihan laughed, spinning in place once—and suddenly, one of his Pokéballs deployed. The two trainers jumped to see Gooms emerge from her Pokéball, cheering delightedly as she took hold of Raihan’s hands. 

“Gooms!” Cynthia’s eyes were wide as Raihan took her in stride, twirling her as they began to dance together on the sidewalk. Cynthia sobered up, fondly smiling as she watched Raihan step easily into an upbeat waltz of sorts, ending with a flourish as Raihan dipped her. Cynthia applauded them gleefully as a few other people on the street did the same. “Oh, look at her. She _adores _dancing.”

“Yeah.” Raihan burst out laughing as Gooms tackled him happily. “Hey! Easy, girl.”

“I bet she got really inspired by the Pokémon Contest entries we saw today.” Cynthia said. 

“Yeah, I bet.” Raihan petted his Goodra’s neck gently. “Back in college, she’d always pop out of her Pokéball to watch as my ex and I learned how to dance.” He stopped and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Well, _vertically_.”

“TMI, Raihan.” Cynthia huffed, giving him a pinch to the side. “Anyway, I bet Gooms really wants to try competing at a Pokémon Contest.”

“No way—” Raihan began, but he jerked in alarm when he saw Gooms’s eyes sparkling with wonder. “_Gooms?_”

“Good thing you’re already signed up!” Cynthia grinned. “You’ve got plenty of time to practice for tomorrow!”

“_Tomorrow?_” Raihan gaped at Cynthia as Gooms cheered, hugging his arm. “You can’t be serious—I—_when?_”

Cynthia grinned at him, and he jolted as he remembered what happened at the Pokémon Centre that morning. 

Cynthia had been talking to Nurse Joy in Sinnohan, and she was doing something to his phone. He yanked it out of his pocket, as Gooms began to dance anew, giggling happily, and Cynthia jumped when another Pokéball deployed. Gibble jumped up and down, cheering happily as she, too, began to dance—if a little clumsily. 

Cynthia giggled, squatting down to hold Gibble’s hands as she danced, stars in her eyes as she looked up at Gooms in awe. 

“_Holy shit!_” Raihan exclaimed, unmindful of Gibble's dancing. “_You and Nurse Joy signed me up!_”

“Guilty as charged.” Cynthia laughed, raising her hands defensively as Raihan gaped at her. “I saw that Gooms was a natural dancer, so I thought that she might want to try.” The blonde patted Raihan’s shoulder. “And it seems little Gibble here wants to follow in her big sister’s footsteps.”

“Gib…” Raihan cut himself off when he saw his Gible look up at him pleadingly. He laughed fondly, shaking his head as he picked her up. “You wanna dance too, baby?”

“Gibba! Gib!” She cooed, and Raihan huffed fondly, shaking his head. 

“Okay, fine.” He looked at Cynthia flatly. “Can’t hurt to try.”

“It’ll be fun!” She beamed at him. “Think of it as an icebreaker when things get too tense for you in the gym circuit.”

“I swear…” Raihan shook his head, but he was grinning. “Fair word of warning, I can get really, _really _competitive when there’s enough eyes on me.”

“That sounds like the opposite of a problem.” Cynthia grinned. 

“I thought the idea was that I _wouldn’t_ get stressed!” Raihan laughed, and the trainers shared their laughter, as the two dragons danced beside them.

* * *

“_What?_” Leon laughed brightly as Raihan grinned at him cheekily. “_You’re also coordinating? Isn’t that too much?_”

“Apparently it’s for me to wind down.” Raihan rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. “Cynthia said it’ll be fun, or some shit.” 

Leon chuckled into his hand, and Raihan tried not to stare too hard at how his sleeve slid down his shoulder. “_Well, I’m sure it is. I’m just worried about you, I guess. Was it Gooms?_”

“Yeah.” Raihan laughed, shaking his head, snuggling back into the ridiculously soft pillows of the hotel room he was in, thinking of the blonde that was in the room next to him. “I guess Cynthia noticed it too, how well she moved and all.”

“_Well, Gooms is the type to do all that fancy footwork when battling._” Leon chuckled. “_Cynthia’s got a sharp eye. She’d notice._”

“I figured as much.” Raihan grinned, and Leon beamed at him. “She’s over the moon thinking about the upcoming competition, so guess who’s hitting the park tomorrow to cobble a routine together.”

“_I’m confident you can manage._” Leon smiled at him, and Raihan felt his cheeks grow warm. “_Knowing you. You got to keep up with a few celebrities on that dancing show you guested in with Nessa._”

“Yeah, well, that’s different.” Raihan wagged his finger at his fiancé. “I didn’t win that.”

“_You aren’t aiming to win _this _one too, are you?_” Leon grinned, but Raihan knew he already knew his answer.

“What’s the point of entering if you’re not gonna take it seriously?” He grinned, and Leon burst out laughing. “What!”

“_I knew you’d say that._” Leon huffed, shaking his head fondly. “_I’m cheering you on. And looking forward to all that. You’re a wonderful dancer._”

“Aw, you’re just biased.” Raihan blew him a raspberry, and Leon rolled his eyes. “Love you too, babe.”

“_I mean it!_” Leon huffed. “_I’ll watch every single one of your performances. You’ve got this in the bag._”

“You realise this means that we won’t be able to talk tomorrow, right?” Raihan grinned, but Leon mirrored his grin cheekily. 

“_Yes, but you are freer now, aren’t you?_” He asked, and Raihan’s eyes widened in realisation. “_We can talk whenever you’re free now._”

“You’re right.” Raihan grinned. “Will you be with me tomorrow while I practice?”

“_If I can._” Leon smiled, nodding. “_I’d love to see you dance again._”

Raihan beamed at him, and Leon sighed happily, sinking back into his pillows.

“_By the way, I saw the news._” Leon said. “_About the Pokémon you calmed down. What was it called again, uh…_”

“Salamence.” Raihan said, “It’s called a Salamence. The form you saw in the video was a Mega Evolved Salamence, meaning it had another step of evolution, even if it’s a little temporary.”

“_Mega… Evolution?_” Leon echoed. “_I think Sonia’s mentioned that before._” 

“Yeah. It’s a method Trainers use to make their partners stronger. I’ve heard it… _hurts,_ though, so I kinda don’t want to subject my dragons to it.” Leon nodded sagely. “So far, we know that Janus and Gibble can Mega Evolve, but they’re both still babies.” Raihan huffed. “Besides, we have Dynamax at home.”

“_But in Sinnoh, you don’t have Dynamax._” Leon said. “_Will you manage?_”

“Of course.” Raihan grinned. “Who do you think I am?” He gave Leon a wink, and his fiancé chuckled behind his hand. 

“_There’s so much more people that look up to you now._” Leon said gently, and Raihan nodded, huffing. “_I’m glad._”

Raihan gave him a sweet smile, but he jumped. “Oh, by the way. Something you should know.” 

Leon hummed, cocking his head.

“The Mega Salamence had a Rocket Controller on it.” Raihan said gravely, and Leon’s eyes widened. “I don’t know the rest of the story, Officer Jenny’s currently looking into it, but the Rocket Controllers are here in Sinnoh, too.”

“_Fuck._” Leon hissed. “_I’d better let Detective Robin know. Did the police there say anything?_”

Raihan shook his head. “They had no idea what it was. Looks like there’s a media blackout here because they never heard of that information in Galar.”

“_What?_” Leon gaped at him. “_That’s… that should be impossible._”

“It’s not big news here.” Raihan said. “Officer Jenny decided to enforce a media blackout for now, while they’re still running an investigation. I’ll get back to you on it as soon as I can.”

“_Sure thing._” Leon said, and looked at him worriedly. “_Stay safe, okay?_” He asked, and Raihan nodded. 

“I will.” He replied. “You take care too, okay?” 

“_Of course._” Leon smiled, and Raihan huffed fondly, blowing him a kiss. “_Well, I’d better get ready to go to work._” 

“Early in today, huh?” Raihan smiled, and Leon nodded with a sigh. 

“_We’re finishing off the last touches on the Motostoke project. Construction begins in about two weeks, Miss Lillie’s coming over._”

“Oh, that’s neat.” Raihan nodded. “Do your best, babe.”

“_You know it._” Leon gave him a smile and waved at him. “_Bye._”

“Bye.” Raihan waved at him, “Love you.”

“_Love you!_” Leon smiled, and hung up. Raihan sighed, leaning back in his seat as he looked at the ceiling. 

“Ugh.” He groaned, covering his face with his hands. “I’m _fucked._”


	38. This Is Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lemons and Snips will come back to you soon, I promise. Stay strong, Sena.”

The sensation of a cold nose against his cheek made Sena jerk wide awake, jolting so hard that he banged his knee on the table he was sleeping on. He sat up slowly, wondering why his back was killing him, wincing as he straightened up in his seat. Sunny looked up at him, sniffing him softly with a look of concern on her face. 

“Lemons?” He mumbled, making a move to rub at his eyes, when Barry caught his wrist between his horns, rumbling softly. “Hm?” Sena blinked slowly, regaining his vision well enough to realise that Sunny was in front of him, and that Barry had saved him from rubbing glass shards into his eyes. 

Speaking of which—

“_Ow, fuck!_” Sena hissed, jerking up onto his feet to realise he’d fallen asleep on top of the broken glass of the coffee table, a glass shard embedded into the side of his hand. He gasped, yanking it out of his hand, and letting it clatter to the ground. Petey scuttled in from the kitchen, cocking his head curiously as Busby flitted over him to head to Sena, looking him over. 

“Oh, shit.” Sena huffed, shaking his head. “Sorry, I guess I fell asleep, huh.”

“Pika-pi.” Sunny said sadly, reaching up to touch his hand, and he laughed nervously, gently lifting the Pikachu off the shattered glass. Sena held her up to his shoulder, trying not to grin too widely as he remembered Lemons doing the same as a Pikachu. He stretched out, groaning softly as he looked his apartment over.

It didn’t look nearly as _sad _as it had when he arrived the other day, at least. He spent the entire day yesterday cleaning the whole place, repainting everything from the ceiling to the floor with Kabu. The wooden walls were now a friendly pastel yellow, bordered at the bottom with a repainted white-wood wall skirting panel that ran along the circumference of the apartment. Broken furniture was repaired, warped metal was reforged into something more serviceable, thanks to Kabu’s Fire-type Pokémon. 

The floor had been waxed thoroughly, and then covered with a spare rug that Kabu produced when he came over to help. The whole place was cleaned up from top to bottom, and in the evening, uncle and nephew went to Motostoke to shop for more furniture—each arrival date marked down on Sena’s phone calendar—and groceries. 

Sena remembered he did a bit more cleaning after Kabu left, and he must have fallen asleep on the coffee table in the middle of his apartment. He and Kabu hadn’t sorted the table out yet, too preoccupied with looking for a replacement piece of glass that they ran out of time before Kabu had to leave for other engagements. Hence, the bleeding little cut on Sena’s hand. He huffed, shaking his head as he wiped off the pooling blood on his jeans, and he winced at the sting that came with it. Still, it was easy enough to ignore, and he straightened up, smacking his cheeks lightly as he tried to wake himself up. 

“Today, I’m gonna meet Mr. Chairman for lunch. After that, I’m gonna look for the Gym, see if I can’t track some trainers down.” He huffed, shakily making his way to the kitchen, where a single microwave oven sat on a lonely-looking cracked marble countertop. His team followed him, and he jumped slightly when Busby possessed the microwave oven, looking at him expectantly. “Aw, bud. Thanks.” He laughed softly, and the Rotom popped the lid open. 

Barry and Petey ushered Sena over to the fridge, which was fully stocked, thanks to Kabu’s insistence. He looked it over tiredly, and sighed, pulling out a fresh carton of milk. Sunny ran up his leg, climbing up to his shoulder to jump onto the countertop, and Sena laughed sheepishly as she retrieved his mug—a souvenir from Akala Island with paint chipping off the side—from where it was sitting next to a newly-polished metal sink.

Slowly, Sena went through the motions of making himself some form of breakfast—accidentally microwaving his bowl of cereal and drinking cold milk straight out of a mug, for starters—but he managed to get through it, dumping the dishes into the sink.

He looked down at the dishes, and hesitated. 

His team looked at him worriedly, and he shook his head.

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” He said, mostly to himself than anything, and turned away from the sink. “I’ll do that when I get home.”

Busby buzzed in protest, but Sena waved him off as he stumbled into his bedroom. Sena’s team shared nervous glances, but Sena was soon out of his bedroom, now out of the ratty shirt and jogging pants and in streetwear. He gave his team a tired little grin, and he held up his Pokéball harness. “Alright, guys. C’mon in.”

His team hesitated, looking at him worriedly, but Busby lowered his head, resigned, and put himself into his Pokéball first. Barry came next, followed by a hesitant Petey. Sunny hesitated and looked up at Sena worriedly. The blond cocked his head at her, and she gingerly shook her head. Sena huffed fondly, and gently picked her up, setting her down on his shoulder. He gave her a grin, snuggling his cheek against her belly. 

“Chin up, baby.” He said, stroking her head, and Sunny cooed happily. “We’ll be fine.”

He strode to the door, Sunny climbing over his head, and the apartment rattled violently as another train approached Derbyton Station. Sena whistled, wincing as Sunny whined, scrambling from his head to bury her face in the crook of his neck. 

“Wanna come back in?” He asked softly, when the rattling subsided, and he could see the lock of the door again. Sunny shook her head, groaning softly as Sena picked up a set of keys hanging from a repurposed candelabra by the door. “Alright. We’re getting outta here anyway.”

He opened the door and sighed, as the gloominess of Derbyton greeted him. 

“This is fine.” He mumbled, trying not to wither at the sights of the residents of Derbyton looking at him with their own dirty glances, as if he didn’t belong there. He knew he stuck out like a sore thumb since the moment he arrived with Kabu and Emi.

When he arrived, he thought that maybe he’d just arrived at a bad time. It was approaching 10 PM when they arrived at Derbyton after finally receiving the letter that Sena’s stay had been approved, and the papers for his Gym Leader appointment had finally arrived from Wyndon. Emi had complained about it the whole way through—“_the hell’s that Mr. Chairman doing anyway, sitting on his ass and being pretty?_”—and Sena couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at how long it took for him to get to Derbyton.

Surely Leon was just busy, he thought, maybe he just didn’t have the time. It wasn’t like CEO’s were the freest people in the world.

(Still, Sena ignored the ugly, squirming feeling in his chest. This was nothing. He had to trust the Chairman. He _had _to. He had no room for doubt.) 

When they arrived, Sena felt ridiculously out of place. Derbyton, as he’d read from travel guides and travel blogs, used to be a railway town. In fact, the old railway was still there, still in operation, and ran from Derbyton to Stow-on-Side and back, stopping at multiple charming little restored train stations that represented different time periods of Galar’s past. It was an old, quiet little town off to the west of Motostoke, closer to Turffield than the Wild Area, and had a fog of history about it, a moment preserved in the middle of the Galarian Industrial Revolution that left its mark on Galar’s future.

Sena had expected a town bustling with life, of walking, living history and charming cobblestone streets, not… _this._

The greyness of Derbyton saturated the yellows he wore into startling brightness, and Sena couldn’t bear to imagine running the Electric-type Gym in a place like this. Derbyton’s cobblestone streets were marked with the scars of modernization, the insignia of Magiflora Mining in nearly every modern piece of equipment he could see. He knew that the Hammerlockes had a powerful hold over the area, but he had no idea about the extent of Lord Narcissus’s reach. 

He didn’t know what was harder to believe: that that Narcissus man was a _nobleman, _or that Raihan—_that Raihan_—was _related_ to him.

Sena bit his lip, passing by a Magiflora Mining generator, as Sunny ducked down to press their cheeks together, whining softly. 

He hushed her softly, petting her gently as he ducked into the train station—the _modern _one—and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw colour flooding the world again. He looked over his shoulder at Derbyton—his new _home, _what the fuck—and squeezed his hand into a fist, ignoring the sting on the side of it. 

It was almost comical how _different _Derbyton looked, muted and grey, compared to the brightness of the Macro Cosmos Railways station.

“Wonder if I should’ve just gotten a Flying Taxi.” Sena laughed dryly to himself, looking up at the Macro Cosmos logo overhead, but his feet carried him to the ticket booth. He gave the young man there a nod and a smile. “Hi, I’d like a ticket to Wyndon, please?”

“Oh, sure thing!” The cashier chirped, and punched in a few numbers, before handing Sena a single-use ticket. “Here you go.”

“Um, how much?” Sena asked, but the cashier shook his head. “Huh?” 

“You’re the Gym Leader of Derbyton, Leader Sena.” The young man said. “You get travel passes to anywhere in Galar using the Macro Cosmos Railways!” Sena boggled at him as he pressed the ticket into Sena’s hand. “It’s all on the League.” He gave Sena a bow and gestured at the gates. “The next train is in five minutes. Thank you for your patience!”

“I—uh, thanks.” Sena stammered, hurrying to the gate. He looked down at the ticket in bewilderment as Sunny sniffed it curiously. “Wow, on the League, huh…” He mumbled, and fed it into the turnstile at the gate. He strode past the barriers, and stood at the platform, looking at the bright yellows of the train station. 

“Wonder how I’m gonna handle this…” He sighed.

“Pika…” Sunny said softly, and he shook his head, snuggling against her side as she cuddled him. Sena felt something tug at his chest, remembering that Lemons used to do exactly the same thing, but he ignored it. 

“Thanks, Sunny.” He smiled for her instead, pressing a kiss to her tummy, and the Pikachu giggled. “We’ll figure it out, no worries. This is gonna go great.”

The train arrived, and Sena lit up, watching as it came to a stop in front of him.

After all, he’d only been in Derbyton for a day and a half. He couldn’t be a downer now.

* * *

“What do you think, Leah?” Leon smiled at the blonde at the counter, who pouted in thought, tapping her chin while her Eevee bustled around on the counters behind her. Sena didn’t really mind her, and he could _melt _at how _pretty _the Chairman was. 

It was so good to see Leon again. He was as radiant as ever, and Sena was proud of himself for not losing his cool and turning into a stuttering mess in front of the beautiful man. He even managed the Flying Taxi ride (_together! With Chairman Leon!_) to a place called Locksley, where they came to a stop at a beautiful Kalos-style café with a wooden sign hanging above the door. The sign had a Ribombee dancing with a Grimmsnarl on it, and the name _Café Violette _underneath it in fancy script. The café interior was as cosy as the exterior, decorated beautifully with an array of different furniture, and Sena realised that there were even _Pokémon _customers in there. 

The barista—Leah, Leon had said—lit up, lightly pounding her fist against her palm. 

“How about a Cheesy Rowlet Pizza?” She asked, cocking her head at Sena, and the blond blinked at her. “Since you ordered the Brionne Soda. You seemed the type to like that, Leader Sena.” Leah gave him a sweet smile, and Leon gave her an encouraging smile. 

“I, uh. Sure.” Sena nodded, laughing nervously. “I’ve never tried it before, so I’m kinda curious.” He looked down at the menu Leah handed him, and smiled slightly. Brionne, the evolved form of Popplio.

His chest ached with longing. He missed Alola. 

“I’ll have the Yamper Pasta, please.” Leon paused, and huffed. “And a Swablu Shaved Ice.”

“Oh, again?” Leah giggled. “You really like that, Mr. Chairman!” 

“What can I say? It’s very good, you know.” Leon laughed, and Sena could see a strange sort of softness in Leon’s eyes as he covered his smile with his hand. If he squinted, maybe he could see a golden band on Leon’s ring finger…

The blond shook his head as Leah took their orders, nodding to herself. 

“Matches! Kicks! Ace! We’ve got orders!” She called, and much to Sena’s surprise, a Charmander, Scorbunny and a _Lucario _hurried out of the kitchen, beaming at them. They were all wearing the café’s aprons and beret, and Sena couldn’t help but smile when Leah directed the three Pokémon to their tasks. 

“Sena,” Leon said, and the blond turned to look at him. He gave Sena a smile, patting his shoulder, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “C’mon, over here.” 

“Will they know where we’re seated?” Sena asked, and Leon nodded, sweeping his hair—braided, today, smelling of lilies—over his shoulder in a distracting sweep, and Sena couldn’t help but stop and stare.

“This is my usual spot.” He smiled, sitting down at a table for two in front of a rack of beautifully blooming flowers. Sena gaped at the flowers, watching little Cutieflies flutter around them. 

“Whoa.” He breathed, “Where’d you find this place?”

“A friend told me about it.” Leon said, and Sena hummed, sitting across him so he faced the flowers. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The food is fantastic. Pokémon-safe, too.” 

“Whoa, really?” Sena blinked. “Damn, I left the rest of my team at the Pokémon Centre near MCHQ…” He looked at his harness, and huffed, letting Sunny out of her Pokéball. “Just Sunny on me right now.” 

“Hello, Sunny.” Leon smiled, petting the Pikachu, and she cooed happily, her leg thumping on the table when he scratched under her chin. Leon chuckled, and Sena wished he could have caught that on camera. “I’m sorry it took me this long to see you again. I wanted to check up on you.” Leon put his hand down, and Sunny looked up at him, bereft. Sena huffed, picking up the Pikachu to set her down on his lap. “How have you been? How’s Derbyton treating you?”

Sena paused. How _had _he been this past month? 

“Well, uh… I actually stayed with Uncle Kabu for most of it.” He admitted, “Took us about a month to get our hands on my appointment papers, the apartment rental approval, all that stuff.” Sena tried not to think about Emi’s complaints, but they persisted in his head, burrowing deep into his mind.

_The hell’s that Mr. Chairman doing anyway, sitting on his ass and being pretty?_

“What?” Leon blinked. “I signed your papers a week after you won the tournament.” 

Sena jolted, and he looked up at Leon. “What?” He breathed, and Leon looked back at him worriedly. 

“I signed your papers a week after you won the tournament.” He repeated. “I wanted you in Derbyton as soon as possible, because we haven’t had Power Spot reports on the Gym there in years.” Leon said, his brow knotting in concern. “Did you mean to tell me that you only _just _move to Derbyton?” When Sena didn’t reply, Leon’s eyes widened. “_Sena._”

“I moved in the day before yesterday.” Sena said. “I spent the whole day yesterday cleaning up the apartment with Uncle Kabu.”

“Cleaning…” Leon blinked, “Why would you be cleaning?” 

Sena jerked in alarm when he realised that perhaps Leon had _no idea _about his living conditions. He blinked up at the Chairman, who looked at him worriedly. 

“Sena, you have to tell me what’s going on. What do you mean it took you a month to get your papers? Where did you get them? What was holding it ba—”

“I’m fine!” Sena cut him off, and Leon fell quiet as Sena looked down at the table, keeping his eyes resolutely fixed on the polished, clean surface. “I… I’m fine. It’s okay.”

“Pika…” Sunny said sadly, and Sena stroked her head to reassure her. 

“Sena, it doesn’t _sound _okay.” Leon said, and Sena shook his head. 

“Char!” The little Charmander that Leah had with her on the counter—Matches, right—appeared next to them, gleefully holding up a tray with a tall glass of a blue drink, two empty glasses, and a pitcher of water. Leon sobered up quickly enough, plastering a smile on his face as he helped the Charmander set the glasses on the table. Sena quickly picked up his Brionne Soda from the tray to set down on the table. “Char!” the baby Pokémon squealed, and Leon’s smile became a little more genuine as he reached down to pet its head. 

“Thanks, Matches.” He said gently, and the Charmander rubbed its head against his palm. “You’d better run along now. Leah might need you.” 

It nodded and scurried happily away. Sena couldn’t help but smile at Leon’s wistful gaze at the Charmander as it left, and he cleared his throat. 

“You seem to really like Charmanders.” He said, and Leon laughed, leaning back in his seat.

“Well, they remind me of when Red was little.” Sena’s blank face made him laugh a little more, and he shook his head. “Red, my Charizard.”

“Oh.” Sena laughed weakly. “For a moment, I thought you meant like… Battle Legend Red.”

“Well, I mean,” Leon waved his hand. “My Charizard was named after him.” 

“Whoa, really?” Sena blinked. “I’ve only seen him in like, pictures, and stuff. Though to be fair, I never really went to the Battle Tree when I was in Alola…”

“Oh right, he was there.” Leon hummed. “With his husband…” He trailed off, seemingly thinking about something, and Sena heaved a sigh of relief. At least Leon wasn’t pressing him about Derbyton anymore.

“Ah, but enough of that. Sena, I wish you could’ve told me sooner about your late move.” Leon shook his head, and Sena deflated.

And there it was again.

“No, it’s—it’s fine, really. The apartment’s…” He trailed off, trying to find the words to say. “N-_nice._ I guess.” 

Leon frowned at him. 

“Hey, I mean it!” Sena spluttered, waving his hands defensively as Leon’s gaze on him grew warier. Sunny squirmed in his lap in protest, and he scooped her up into one arm. “I-I-I, uh, Mr. Chairman, c’mon!” He deflated, and felt his cheeks burn. “It was the most time I’ve ever spent with Uncle Kabu ever since I moved away from Lavaridge Town.” He mumbled, and Leon’s expression on him softened. “S-sorry, I…”

“You don’t have to apologise.” Leon said softly. “Hell, if anything, I think _I _have to do the apologising here.”

“Well, we made the most out of a situation.” Sena smiled slightly, using his free hand to absently stir his drink with the metal straw that came with it. Sunny lit up, and began to watch the sparkly little sinkers spin along with the straw. “I hadn’t been with him in a long, long time… he was part of my inspiration to start battling, y’know?”

“Really?” Leon smiled, and Sena’s cheeks grew hotter. 

(Well, Kabu, among _other things_, he reasoned, but Leon didn’t need to know that.)

“We only got to see each other when he flew over to Alola or when we had family reunions back in Lavaridge Town.” Sena said, “So it was nice… to be with him again. My dad… doesn’t really _do _battling, he’s an engineer. My mom’s an accountant.”

“I see.” Leon said softly. “So, you spent the month with Kabu. Did he help you move in, too?”

“Yeah.” Sena nodded. “He came back for me in Derbyton on my first day there and we cleaned up the apartment together. He brought back some old stuff for me, I got to hang out with some of his Pokémon, it was great.” Sena could honestly smile at that, and Leon hummed, nodding. 

Leah’s Scorbunny arrived this time, and Sena realised that the Pokémon staff had name tags pinned to their aprons. Like the blonde had said, the Scorbunny was named Kicks, and Sena gave it a grin when it hopped up next to their table, holding up two trays with their dishes on it. Sena and Leon took the dishes from the trays, and Kicks beamed at them.

“Thanks, bud.” Sena grinned, giving the Scorbunny a thumbs up, and it rubbed its nose, grinning happily. 

“Yeah, well done.” Leon nodded, and the Scorbunny giggled brightly, before hurrying away. 

Sena looked down at his meal, and smiled at the sight of the Rowlet on the pizza. Sunny looked away from the Brionne Soda to look at the dish, and her eyes sparkled with wonder. Sena chuckled, and began to cut the pizza for her. 

“Mr. Chairman, I was wondering…” He said, and Leon hummed as he began to mix his pasta. “How’s progress on Dexit?”

Leon gave him a little smile. “We’re making good progress.” He said, and Sena blinked at him. “We’ve identified potential factors that would necessitate Dexit, and I’m planning to resolve those problems so we can abolish Dexit.” The blond’s eyes widened, and Leon nodded. “I’ve already gotten started. Macro Cosmos is leaving the mining sector, and in a few weeks, Aether Foundation is coming here to help.”

“Aether Foundation… isn’t that an Alolan company?” Sena asked, gently handing an impatiently squirming Sunny a slice of his pizza. 

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. “I’ve got a partnership with them to help make a more sustainable Galar.” He reached forward to grip Sena’s wrist. “Lemons and Snips will come back to you soon, I promise. Stay strong, Sena.”

_Stay strong. _

“I…” Sena began, and Leon squeezed his wrist. 

“Just like before. In the Ranking Tournament.” He said, “Everything’s gonna be alright. Just keep your chin up.”

Sena smiled at Leon weakly, and nodded. 

“R-right…” he said. “Thanks, Mr. Chairman.”

Stay strong, he said. Keep your chin up. 

Everything’s gonna be alright. 

Now was not the time to be moping around.


	39. The Derbyton Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It was going great, and we found the Gym, but… we ran into someone.”

When Sena came back to Derbyton, nothing much had changed, no matter how much he wished for it. He strode out from the bright technicolour of Macro Cosmos into the dull greys of Magiflora Mining, and he shivered when he realised that rain clouds were coming in overhead. He shook his head and put Sunny back into her Pokéball. 

“Eugh, geez.” Emi said, striding up next to him to stand in the doorway from the station to Derbyton, and Sena laughed weakly as his best friend squinted up at the sky. “Talk about gloomy. Damn.”

He’d ran into her after his meal with Leon, finally learning that Emi was a resident of Locksley herself. She insisted on coming with him back to Derbyton to help him look for the Gym, and her Lucario, Riku, seemed eager to battle, despite her very poor attempts at concealing her own itching for a fight. Sena had planned on challenging her to a Dynamax battle in the Gym when they found it, but returning to Derbyton sapped his energy, and Sena wasn’t all that sure he wanted to battle anymore. 

“Yeah, no clue why it looks nothing like the pictures.” Sena mumbled, and Emi grinned at him, elbowing his side as the rain began to pour. 

“Didn’t take you to be the type to believe in online propaganda.” She huffed. “C’mon, let’s go look for the Gym. Unlike you, I’m used to Galarian showers, so I actually brought an umbrella.”

“Praise be.” Sena said flatly, and she snickered. 

“Oh, come on. It’ll be just like old times, when you and I went sneaking into that abandoned Thrifty Megamart site.” She grinned and unfurled her—unsurprisingly black—automatic umbrella. Still, it was big enough for the both of them, and Sena carried the umbrella for the both of them as they strode into the main street of Derbyton. She whistled lowly as a group of locals passed them by, giving them a wide berth, and Emi looked over at Sena. “Yikes. It’s like a town of goths staying away from the prep.”

“Please don’t call me a prep.” Sena groaned, and Emi let out a snorting laugh. 

“A simp, then.”

“_Shut up!_” Sena finally burst out laughing, and the two of them dissolved into giggles as they stumbled through the drenched streets of Derbyton, clinging to each other under a wiggly umbrella. 

“Oh, _come on! _You go all gaga over Chairman Leon!” She blew him a raspberry. “Hell, you _started_ Pokémon training because you had the fattest goddamn crush on Wallace Stone—”

“_Ugh, Emi!_” Sena kicked at her, and she snickered, hurrying out of the umbrella to kick water at him. “No! I’m wearing my chucks!”

“When it rains, it pours here in Galar!” She cawed, “You should’ve invested in the waterproofs!” She deployed her Lucario into the rain next to her. “Riku, splash him!” He howled happily, sending a weak Aura Sphere at Sena to splash him with water. 

“Cheat!” Sena grinned, deploying Busby, who snickered happily as he possessed the automatic umbrella, blocking any more splashes Emi and Riku sent at him. “Hey! Not like that!” He laughed, shaking water out of his hair. “I’m getting _wetter!_”

The two of them continued to play together, unmindful of the world, as they began to attract curious stares from the windows that remained barred around them. Sena and Emi grinned at each other, and the blond couldn’t help but feel so grateful for a friend like her. Fuck, if he’d been alone, things would’ve been different.

They calmed down after a while, tired out from laughing, and Sena smiled as he watched Busby and Riku reunite, chatting happily as they continued to walk under the rain. Sena and Emi went back under the umbrella, and Emi buried her nose into her phone, muttering darkly as she looked for the Derbyton Gym.

“If I’m right, it should be around here.” She grumbled, and the two of them looked around. They’d walked a good distance from the station, straying off the main street to head into a large field next to the train yard. Emi frowned, and Sena hummed, blinking at a large, dark structure in the distance. “That thing’s a giant fucking thing, how could we miss it?”

“What about that?” Sena asked, pointing at the mound in the middle of the field, and Emi blinked at it. 

“You’re joking. The Derbyton Gym is a _building, _not a hill_._”

Riku suddenly barked, and the two Trainers turned to see him kicking aside some dirt off to the side. Their eyes widened when they saw him uncover a concrete road branching off the road they were on, seemingly leading to the mound in the distance. 

“_You’re kidding me._” Emi deadpanned, and Riku nodded intently. “Can you sense people with your Aura in there?”

Riku nodded again, and Busby flitted around his head excitedly, flying upwards. Sena looked up, beyond the brim of the umbrella he was holding up—in vain now, he realised, considering he and Emi were sopping wet—and realised that Busby was heading to an overhead power line leading towards to the mound in the distance. 

“There’s power heading there!” Sena breathed.

“Bull! Dynamax Gyms are powered by their Power Spot!” Emi huffed, but they followed Riku’s lead, watching as the Lucario cleaned up the concrete path heading towards the mound, which became more and more familiar as they grew closer. “Oh, _fuck._”

“It’s a Gym!” Sena breathed, looking up at the Derbyton Gym—or, at least, what only _looked _like a Gym. It looked a lot like what Sena saw in the photos—electric yellow plexiglass panes and white metal framing, a massive structure that towered over their heads, but it seemed to have fallen in disrepair. Some panels were cracked, some were missing. The doors in front of them were wide open, and Sena felt his heart drop to his gut when he could see an empty, dusty lobby. He hurried ahead of Emi, who jumped and called out for him—

When suddenly a hand grabbed him by the collar and hauled him away from the door. Sena cursed as he landed on his ass, Emi running up to his side, wide-eyed in shock. 

“Sena! Holy shit—” She looked up at their assailant, and her expression darkened. “Who the hell are you? Get the hell out of his Gym.”

“It’s _my _Gym.” The man that threw Sena out was large and imposing, glaring down at them with the same distasteful leer the rest of Derbyton was throwing at Sena. “No one asked for you to be here.”

“What the hell does _that _mean?” Sena snapped, getting up onto his feet, and the man towered over them, glaring menacingly as a large, levitating Pokémon hovered behind him. “What the…”

“Get out of here, before I _make _you.” The man growled, and Sena jumped when he saw the flash of a phone camera behind him. The man’s face turned an ugly, splotchy red as he visibly _fumed,_ and thrust his hand out at Sena and Emi. “Throw these two out, Metagross!”

The Metagross reared up, and Sena and Emi’s eyes widened as it dove at them. 

“Use Hypnosis!”

Sena jolted, and he felt himself grow weak, slumping down to the ground as he heard a Pokéball deploying, and Emi’s weakening voice barking orders at someone.

* * *

“Sweet loving Ho-oh, what have you two been _doing?_” 

Sena woke up to the sound of Kabu’s voice, and he sat up slowly, blinking blearily. Somehow, he was back in bed in his apartment, wrapped warmly in clean bedsheets. He winced when he felt a sharp pain in his temple, and he took a sharp breath, catching the attention of the people outside. Kabu hurried into his room and pulled Sena into a tight hug as Emi strode in, dressed in something new and leaning on the doorway, her arm in a sling. 

“I… what…?” Sena said weakly, hugging Kabu back. “Uncle Kabu? What’re you doing here?”

“I heard about what happened and hurried here immediately.” The man said, pulling away to look Sena over. The blond blinked confusedly as Kabu peered into his eyes, pulling down his lower eyelid to inspect his eye, and sighed in relief. “_Thank goodness._” He said in the Lavaridge dialect, and Sena felt himself immediately calm down at the sound of something so familiar. 

(The fact that Mr. Wallace Stone’s poster back during his prime years as a Coordinator was on the wall, too, but Sena didn’t want to point that out, lest Emi saw.)

Sena gingerly held his uncle’s hand as Kabu adjusted himself, wincing at a pain he felt in his knees. Emi huffed, rolling her eyes as she stepped away from the doorway. 

“What happened to Emi?” Sena asked, and Kabu shook his head.

“The brazen girl had her Pokémon bite her awake.” He huffed. “She then carried you with her Pokémon’s help back to safety where I could meet you up.”

“It’s…” Sena peered at the wall clock in the living room. “It’s only been a few hours… you came here on a _Flying Taxi?_” 

“Sena, for you, I would do most things I normally do not.” Kabu said. “Nasu would not forgive me, nor would I ever forgive myself.” Kabu gave Sena a little smile, and the blond laughed sheepishly. “Now _you _tell me what happened.”

“Didn’t Emi tell you?”

“I want to hear it from you.” Kabu said, and Sena sighed, leaning back against the headboard of his bed. “Sena.”

“Uncle Kabu,” He began, but Emi returned, her Lucario carrying with him a chair. “Oh.”

“Got you something, old man.” Emi said, as her Lucario set the chair down behind Kabu. She was visibly trying not to smile as Kabu gave Riku scratches under his chin, and Emi jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll keep an eye on the curry you started.”

“Oh, Uncle Kabu’s curry…” Sena sighed happily, and Kabu chuckled fondly, shaking his head. 

“Thank you, Emi. Shut the door behind you when you go, I don’t want food smell getting into Sena’s room.”

“_Food smell._ You sound like a mum.” Emi rolled her eyes but gestured for Riku to head out before she shut the door behind her. Kabu huffed and sat down, turning back to Sena with a cocked eyebrow. 

“Go on.” He said in the Lavaridge dialect, and Sena gave him a helpless little grin. 

“I woke up pretty late this morning. I met with Mr. Chairman, and on my way back, I ran into Emi. She insisted she would come with me back to Derbyton to look for the Gym, so we did.”

“Explains the soaked clothes.” Kabu huffed, and Sena couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Yeah, we had a splash war.” He replied. “It was going great, and we found the Gym, but… we ran into someone.”

Kabu nodded. 

“He was… big. Turned a nasty kinda red when he started yelling at us.” Sena shut his eyes, and the Metagross’s red eyes stared back at him from the back of his eyelids. He shuddered, and Kabu’s expression tightened as Sena opened his eyes. “He had a Metagross.”

“A Metagross?” Kabu hummed. “Those are illegal here in Galar.”

“Illegal?” Sena blinked, and the man nodded. “Is it… Dexit?”

“The PSEA, yes.” Kabu frowned. “That’s no good.”

“You don’t say.” Sena said dejectedly, looking down at his hands. 

How come that horrible man that stole his Gym could keep his partner, and Sena couldn’t?

“I know what you’re thinking.” Kabu said, gently tapping Sena’s temple, and the blond pouted at him. “You’re wondering why that man could keep his Pokémon partner, and you could not.”

“I… yeah.” Sena admitted, and Kabu huffed, nodding. 

“Well, who do you think is in the wrong right now?” He asked. Sena blinked at him. “You, who decided to patiently wait for his best friend to come home, or him, risking arrest and complete confiscation of his partner Pokémon?”

Sena’s expression tightened. 

“I don’t know if I can say I _am_ patient.”

“True, but you are waiting.” Kabu said, and squeezed his wrist. “Sena, we’re going to take your Gym back, and we’re going to kick that man out of there.” He said firmly, and Sena nodded gingerly. “You’re a man of Hoenn. Born of the same land as Groudon’s righteous rage.”

“I… I am.” Sena nodded, squeezing his hand into a fist. “I’ll take back my Gym—I won that fair and square.”

“That’s the spirit.” Kabu nodded, and got up. “Now, if you’re feeling a little better, let’s have some dinner and see if we can’t figure out a plan.”

* * *

Sena, Kabu and Emi settled down together on the couch, their food served on top of the coffee table, which was now mercifully free from glass. Sena briefly remembered his cut, and while Kabu and Emi were busy working with the rice cooker and the pot, he peered at his hand. The cut seemed alright, almost invisible now, and he heaved a sigh of relief. 

He helped Emi and Kabu put out Pokémon food for their partners and sighed deeply as they tucked into their meal. 

“Man, I missed this.” He said past a mouthful of rice, and Emi snickered. “Shut up, you know it’s good.”

“It really is.” Emi nodded at Kabu. “Thanks for cookin’, Uncle Kabu.”

“Well, with your arm in a sling, I doubt you would have been of much help.” He said drily, and Emi pulled a face, jerking her thumb at Kabu. 

“He’s just as bad as you are.” She deadpanned, and uncle and nephew shared a laugh. Emi smiled a little at that, shaking her head as she checked her phone. “Well, looks like I _can _be of help, Uncle Kabu, just not in cooking.” 

“Never was good at that, in my opinion.” Sena muttered, and she kicked him under the table. 

“I texted my dad, sent him a photo of our perp to see if he can’t identify him.” Emi said, and Kabu hummed, cocking his head as Sena’s eyes widened. “Lo and behold, we’ve got a match.”

She held her phone up to them and showed them a mugshot of the very same man who threw Sena out of his own Gym. 

“The name’s Rudy. He’s apparently the stationmaster of Derbyton Station.” Kabu raised an eyebrow at that, and Emi grinned. “The _old _one. The historical site that Magiflora Mining spent a _shitton _of cash on restoring and maintaining.” 

“Wait, your dad’s a police officer, right?” Sena asked. “How’d he know that?”

Emi’s grin widened. “_He’s got a criminal record._”

“Oh!” Kabu straightened up, and Sena lit up.

“_Spill it!_” He grinned.

“It’s a _grocery list _of some overblown shitheel up his own asshole.” She leered, holding up a finger with every word she spoke: “Drugs, shoplifting, alarm and scandal, _sexual assault._”

“Oh, Ho-oh.” Kabu groaned, rubbing his temples, as Sena shot to his feet.

“_He’s an asshole!_”

“_Deadass!_” Emi crowed, thrusting her phone into the air. “And now, we can throw in that sweet smuggling charge! I _so _wanna throw this man into jail _myself!_”

“And I want him out of my Gym!” Sena huffed, holding his hand out to her. Emi grinned, gripping his hand as they grinned at each other. “Let’s kick his ass!”

“Due process, children.” Kabu said sternly, but he was smiling slightly as Sena and Emi settled back down onto their seats, grinning. “Please have your father send the warrant to Officer Jenny here in Derbyton. I’ll go find the police station while the two of you apprehend that man for usurpation of private property.”

“Oh, shit! That’s right, there’s that too!” Emi gleefully began to type on her phone. “Uncle Kabu, you’re a bit of a bad bitch too, aren’t you?” 

Kabu cocked his head slightly, a ghost of a smile on his lips, and Sena laughed incredulously at his uncle. 

“Just do be careful.” He said, and turned to Sena. “Please stay safe, alright? You’re dealing with a Steel/Psychic user, at the very least. It would do you well to bring Pokémon with a type advantage.”

“I’ve got Barry.” Sena said determinedly, “And Petey.”

“Bug-type.” Kabu nodded, and looked at Emi meaningfully. She nodded too, grinning slightly. 

“I’ve got Riku. Fighting-type.” She said. 

“Good.” Kabu said. “Now, a plan of attack. From what I can tell of what you’ve told me, the Gym seems to be off the grid. That means no Dynamaxing.”

“Wait, I thought Dynamax Gyms were powered by their Power Spots?” Sena asked, and Emi nodded. 

“Older Dynamax Gyms were once supplemented with power lines. Especially those in the Minor League.” Kabu explained. “Derbyton Gym has been out of the circuit for a long time now, and with a squatter in there, I suppose that it hasn’t been upgraded ever since.” He made a vague gesture with his spoon. “So, no Dynamaxing.”

“I see.” Emi frowned, nodding to herself, and Sena bit his lip. “You got any bright ideas, bud?”

“Yeah, I…” Sena got up onto his feet, and hurried into his room. Kabu and Emi shared a confused look, but he hurried back out quickly enough, securing a pin to the lapel of his shirt. Kabu cocked his head at it, but Emi lit up.

“Oh! That’s…”

“An Electrium-Z.” Sena explained, stepping closer to Kabu to let his uncle see his pin—it had a sparkling stone base, and embedded in a slot on top of its flat surface was a yellow diamond that had a lightning bolt inside it. “I don’t know if it’ll work here in Galar, but I wanna try.”

“What does that do?” Kabu asked. 

“It allows me and my partner to use a super-powerful move. I can only use it once, though.” Sena gave him a weak little grin. “Not gonna lie, I wanted to try using it against a Dynamaxed Pokémon at some point, but, uh… well.” He rubbed his arm. “Lemons.”

“I see.” Kabu said gently, and nodded. “Very well. I wish you all the best.” 

“Thanks.” Sena gave him a little grin, and Emi got up. 

“That’s really sweet and all, and I’m really sorry to be interrupting, I swear I’m not this insensitive.” She said, and the two men looked at her. “But _please _tell me we’re finishing the curry before we go.”

Sena jumped, and looked at the table, where Sunny was picking at the curry on his plate. “Sunny!” He gasped, picking up his Pikachu, and his companions burst out laughing. He set her down on his lap, clicking his tongue as he lifted his plate away from her. “You’re gonna get _too _chunky if you eat so much!” 

Kabu and Emi shared a meaningful look, and she nodded. 

“I promise I’ll keep an eye on him.” She said, and he nodded back at her. 

“Be careful.” He looked down at the extra Pokéball on her belt harness. “And only bring _that _out when absolutely necessary. Do _not _get into trouble, too.”

“That’ll be hard, Uncle Kabu.” She laughed, rubbing her injured arm self-consciously. “Trouble’s my middle name.”

“Oh, you Kalosians and your drama.” He shook his head, and Emi snickered. “I’ll place my Sena in your capable hands.”

“You can count on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarification: Emi's other father is Kalosian! She's got two dads ^ q ^ one is [detective Robin, and the other dad is named Arsene](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12281205). he's very [good friends with his college bestie](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1297195601273032704?s=20). 
> 
> Emi's Lucario is named after Riku Kingdomhearts, Best Boy


	40. Gigavolt Havoc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If I win, you give me back my Gym, and _get the hell out of it_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw for: animal trafficking and implied human trafficking, implied animal abuse

They left Sena’s apartment at almost 10 PM, when the rain cleared up. Sena was relieved to see Emi remove the sling from her arm, but the bandage remained. As they walked towards the Gym, he couldn’t help but stare at it. She gave him a lopsided grin and held up her forearm. 

“Jeez. Wanna see it?” She asked, and Sena nodded eagerly. Huffing, she unwrapped her bandage easily, and Sena winced when he saw two puncture wounds on the upper side of her forearm. They were yellow with disinfectant, and they were mostly clean. Emi turned her arm over to let Sena see the other side of her arm, showing him another pair of puncture wounds. 

“Oh, _shit._” He hissed, as Emi wrapped her arm again. “Damn, Riku’s got a _bite._” 

“Yeah.” She replied, and they fell quiet again. Their partners followed behind them—Riku and Barry together again this time—and Sena peered at them, smiling slightly as he saw his Vikavolt flit around the Lucario.

He paused when he saw Riku yawn softly. 

Hang on, he thought. A Lucario wouldn’t be able to produce those injuries.

“Oh, here we go.” Emi said, and Sena snapped out of his daze to see Emi turn down the road they went. He jogged up behind her to keep up, and soon, they were back near the Gym. Sena deflated, seeing it in such disarray, and he and Emi came to a stop in front of the open doors, peering inside into the lobby. 

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s here.” Sena whispered, and Emi nodded. 

“Riku?” She asked, and her Lucario nodded. “Okay, we’re in the clear.” She strode into the empty lobby, Sena in tow. Emi’s nose scrunched up at the sight of broken seats, and a thick layer of dust covering shattered coffee tables. “_Fuck._” She said, and Sena bit his lip.

“Oh, what’d they do to you…” he murmured, reaching out to trace a streak across the reception desk. “My Gym…”

Emi looked at him pityingly, but a sound made the two of them jump. She dragged Sena back with her behind some toppled sofas, and they peered out from on top of them to see two unfamiliar men walking into the lobby, chatting loudly about something they couldn’t quite understand. They watched as they strode across the ruined lobby, knocking at the shut doors that led further into the Gym.

Emi squinted at the pattern of knocks.

“It’s a password.” She whispered, and Sena nodded. “Ah, but fuck that.”

“Huh?” Sena hissed at her, watching as the doors opened for the two men.

“Riku, Aura Sphere!” Emi hissed, and her Lucario fired a weak pulse at the door, holding it just slightly ajar as it began to slide shut. Sena’s eyes widened, and she grinned at him. “C’mon, let’s go in further!”

Sena nodded, and together they hurried into the Gym after the two men. The corridors were pitch black, but they could see that the men were using flashlights. Sena frowned when he heard a commotion, and he realised they were heading towards the pitch. Sena and Emi hung back as they watched the men exit into the pitch, and Sena nodded at Barry to head forward. The Vikavolt made his way over to the doorway and buzzed twice. Emi nodded at Sena, and the blond hurried forward, putting Barry into his Pokéball. He came to a sudden stop when he saw a crowd in the middle of the field, gathered around what seemed like a _cage._

“What the…” Emi breathed, jogging up beside him. “Wasn’t expecting _this._” She put Riku back into his Pokéball, and together, she and Sena strode into the field, keeping to the edges to stay unseen. 

“_20,000! Do I hear 25,000? 25,000 for this utterly gorgeous Lopunny! You can’t get ‘er anywhere else, folks!_” 

“Whoa, isn’t that Rudy?” Emi breathed, looking up to see the man standing on his Metagross—_poor thing, _she thought—making announcements while it flew around the arena. When she didn’t receive a reply, she looked at Sena—but she froze when she saw the look of _horror _on his face. “S-Sena?”

“They’re auctioning Pokémon.” He said faintly. “They’re… using _my _Gym… to auction _Dexited Pokémon._”

“Sena…” Emi deflated, and they heard the crowd go wild as Rudy declared a sale. “I…”

She should’ve figured he wouldn’t take well to this. As someone who’d been on other missions before for Warwick Yard, this was nothing new to Emi, but Sena…

“I’m sorry.” She said softly.

“_Last sale of the night, folks! A positively adorable Alolan Raichu!_”

Sena’s blood went cold. Emi felt a shudder tear down her spine as she saw any semblance of emotion drain from her best friend’s eyes, and his hand balled into a fist. Her eyes widened, and she dove at Sena, holding him back just as he lurched forward, trying to make a beeline for the auction. 

“It’s not Lemons, it’s not Lemons, I promise,” Emi hissed, desperately hoping they wouldn’t get caught now. She winced when he put pressure on her injured arm, but she ignored the pain. “Sena! You gotta keep it together, _please!_”

The Raichu seemed to have gotten sold immediately, though, because the auction was done in less than a minute after that. Sena slumped down to the ground in Emi’s arms, feeling his heart shatter when the crowd moved aside, parting just far enough to let him see a gleeful young woman in a gaudy, sequined dress shake the Alolan Raichu she just received. It looked _terrified, _and Sena almost wanted to throw up.

_What if that was Lemons?_

“Sena, c’mon, keep it together.” Emi said softly, patting his cheeks gently as he shakily got back up onto his feet. “The battle’s starting.” 

“Battle?” He said faintly, and Emi nodded, gesturing at the cage—it wasn’t a cage, after all, but a fenced-off area. 

“We’re looking at an illegal battling ring.” She said, and Sena’s eyes widened as Trainers began to battle. “They gamble the worst goddamn things in here, it’s just horrible.” Emi squeezed his shoulder. “Not too late to back down now and wait for Uncle Kabu and Officer Jenny.”

“They’ll be gone by then.” Sena said softly, and straightened up. “What kind of things are they betting on there?” 

“I…” Emi shook her head. “Sena, what’re you gonna do?” 

“Emi, tell me.”

“_Sena._” Emi hissed, and their voices were drowned out by the sound of cheering. 

“_Emi._” Sena met her gaze steely, and Emi swallowed nervously. She deflated, shaking her head as she sighed in defeat. 

“They can go from money, to private properties, Pokémon, hell, even _people._” Emi said, and Sena nodded. She jumped, and grabbed his wrist with her uninjured hand. “What’re you doing?”

“Challenging Rudy.” He said, and made a beeline for the battle ring. Emi’s shoulders slumped, and she hurried after him. 

“Sena, that’s fucking _crazy!_”

“This is _my Gym._” He said firmly, and Emi fell quiet, backing away from him slightly. “And I _will _take it back.” 

Sena turned away from her, and Emi shook her head. 

“You don’t understand, dumbass! They don’t play fair!”

“Then we won’t, either.” Sena grinned at her, and Emi nodded, grinning back. 

“_Now _you’re talking.” She said, and gestured at him. “I was just making sure I wouldn’t make you upset if I started fucking shit up in that cage too.” She drew her thumb across her throat. “Go fuck that bastard up.”

Sena nodded and slipped into the cage just as the battle ended. The Trainers tapped out, and the crowd began to murmur excitedly when they realised that a Trainer had begun making his way into the cage. 

Sena fought the prickling sensation in the corners of his eyes. The one time he saw life in Derbyton, and it was over illegal Pokémon battling and _auctions._

He hurried out to the middle of the pitch, and the crowd suddenly went dead silent as the spotlight shone on him. 

“I am Leader Sena of the Derbyton Gym.” He declared, and above him, Rudy came to a stop. “I’m challenging Mr. Rudy to a Pokémon battle.”

“Oh?” The man leered, dropping down into the field, and the crowd murmured in excitement. “You’re back, little boy.”

Sena held his ground. “If I win, you give me back my Gym, and _get the hell out of it._” He unclasped Barry’s Pokéball from its harness and thrust it out at the man. 

“And if you lose?” Rudy leered, standing aside to let his Metagross move in front of him. 

“I’ll give you everything I have.” Sena said. 

“Everything?”

Sena took a moment to breathe. 

“_Everything._” He nodded, and gestured at himself. “I’m sure you’ve got a TV. You’ve seen me battle for this spot. You know what I have.”

“Gigantamax Pikachu.” Rudy leered, and Sena nodded. 

“Everything.”

“Well!” Rudy crowed, turning to the crowd. “Our sweet little Gym Leader, everyone!” The crowd burst into cheers, as Rudy turned back to Sena. “I’m gonna mess you right up, pretty boy.”

Sena spotted something moving in the corner of his eye, and he whirled around, spotting an Abra hovering behind him. 

“Put him into his place!” Rudy barked, and the Abra groaned, pained. Sena’s eyes widened when he saw a Rocket Controller implanted in the Abra’s chest. 

“_No way!_” Sena gasped. “Team Rock—”

“_Psychic_!” Rudy ordered.

“Oh no, you don’t! Bite!” Emi ordered, and something massive burst through the fence, slamming right into the Abra just as Sena began to feel the cold grips of its Psychic on his skin. The Abra immediately fainted, and Rudy jolted as Emi wriggled her way into the battlefield, smirking wildly as her Pokémon came to a stop in front of her, holding the fainted Abra in her mouth.

Sena gaped at his best friend’s new partner.

“_Houndoom!_” He gasped, and Emi gave him a cheeky grin, thumbing at her nose. “You—isn’t that—”

She jerked a finger at Rudy. “You’re not the only bitch with Dexited Pokémon.” She snarled. “Ishtar, Flamethrower! Trap us in here!” 

The Houndoom roared into the sky, and sent a burst of fire around the perimeter of the battlefield, throwing people back away from the edge and preventing anyone else from attempting to help. 

“Cheating bitch!” Rudy snapped at Sena, who grinned at him wryly as Ishtar returned to her trainer, dropping the unconscious Abra into her arms. The Rocket Controller was ruined thanks to the Houndoom’s bite, and Sena deflated when he saw puncture wounds bleeding on the Abra’s chest. 

“That’s _our _line.” He shot back, and threw Barry out into the pitch. “Now face me off without any of your underhanded tricks, or you’ll show everyone in this Gym what a spineless coward you _really _are!”

Rudy’s face turned a splotchy red again as he spluttered, and around them, Sena could hear the crowd murmuring in morbid curiosity. Leave it to mindless taunting to get heartless people to stay and watch something like this, he thought bitterly, but at least it bought Kabu and Officer Jenny more time to gather resources and get here. 

“Well?” He snapped, and Rudy growled, thrusting his arm out at Sena. 

“Flash Cannon!”

“Flamethrower!” Emi ordered.

“Dodge it with Agility!” Sena barked.

Emi’s Houndoom charged forward to face the Flash Cannon head-on, while Barry flew out of the way, vibrating furiously. The Flamethrower and Flash Cannon clashed in the middle of the battlefield, exploding into a violent cloud of smoke.

“Barry! Bug Buzz!” Sena ordered through the smoke, and his Vikavolt charged through the darkness, aiming straight for the Metagross.

“Metagross, use Psychic!” Rudy ordered, and the Metagross let out a metallic cry as Barry crashed into it. It flinched slightly and began to slowly raise its arms. Sena gasped, and turned to look at Emi. 

“It’s all rusty! Now’s our chance!” 

“Right!” Emi threw her arms out to her sides. “Ishtar, _you _hold him in place with Flamethrower!”

“Then fuck him up with Thunderbolt!” Sena ordered, and before the Metagross could lift its arms, Ishtar let out a devastating blast of fire, trapping all of them in a swirling vortex of heat. Sena could feel sweat trickle down the back of his neck as the battlefield slowly began filling with smoke, and he looked up at the fencing around them, gasping as they began to melt.

“Boss!” Someone called from the outside, as Barry’s Thunderbolt came crashing down on Rudy’s Metagross. “The merch are all getting away!” 

“_What?_” Rudy gasped, and cursed when Ishtar snarled at him, her flames growing more violent around the battlefield.

“We’re gonna suffocate like this,” Sena said to Emi, and she shook her head. “_Emi!_”

“Not until he bends first.” She growled, holding her arm up to her nose, trying to breathe through her sleeve. “Ishtar, Bite!”

“Ugh,” Sena shook his head. “Barry, Thunderbolt!”

“That’s _enough!_” Rudy growled, and yanked a pin from his shirt’s breast pocket. “I’ve had _enough_ of you two brats!” He practically punched his pin in fury. “Metagross—_Mega Evolve!_”

“Holy shit!” Emi gasped, and she and Sena shielded their eyes as Rudy’s Metagross let out a pained scream, light flooding the area. “Sena! Better get your ass ready!”

“I know!” Sena shot back, and they winced as a powerful gust of wind blew at them, blowing back all the dust and smoke in the area away. Sena straightened up, jerking in alarm when he saw Ishtar’s fire completely gone. “Oh, shit!” 

“Damn it!” Emi growled, “Ishtar—”

“Bullet Punch!” Rudy ordered, “Get rid of that Houndoom!” 

“Barry, block it with Flash Cannon!” Sena ordered, but he and his Vikavolt had no time to react as the Mega Metagross shot forward, slamming into Ishtar and sending her back against the fence. She slammed against it _hard, _but Sena couldn’t concentrate on her, or his best friend’s shocked scream. 

There was a Rocket Controller on the Mega Metagross. 

Sena looked at Barry, and the Vikavolt bobbed in understanding. 

“Now squash that bug!” Rudy ordered, “Zen Headbutt!” 

“Bug Buzz!” Sena ordered, and the Mega Metagross and the Vikavolt clashed together. Barry got thrown back, but he remained in the air, not too affected by the Psychic attack thrown at him. Sena ran in front of Emi, covering her as she looked her Houndoom over. “Emi, get outta here!” 

“Sena—”

“I know how dangerous Mega Evolution is!” He said, and looked over his shoulder at her, smiling slightly. “Get out of here. Secure the perimeter.”

Emi’s expression tightened, but she nodded. “Got it.” She put Ishtar back into her Pokéball, and ran back out of the battlefield. Sena looked down Rudy, expression tight as the man leered at him. 

“Now it’s just you and me, pretty boy.” He leered at Sena, and Sena only met his jab with an even gaze. “That’s a good expression on your face. I’d always wondered why some dandy bitch got saddled with rough old Derbyton, but I think I’m starting to get it.”

He thrust his fist out at Sena. “But this is where I end you, boy, and I’m taking all of you with me.”

Sena grit his teeth, taking a shaky breath as he said nothing. 

“Rock Slide!” He grinned, and Sena’s eyes widened.

“Barry, dodge it with Agility!” He ordered, and the Vikavolt flitted between the rocks Rudy’s Mega Metagross threw at it. “What the—”

“Don’t you know, kiddo?” Rudy leered, “These little nut things—MC Enhancers—they’re a _dream! _They instantly teach your Pokémon whatever move you want them to learn, even shit they can’t learn on their own!”

“No.” Sena breathed. “MC… _Macro Cosmos?_”

“One and the same!” Rudy crowed, “Now dodge _this! _Rock Tomb!” 

“Flash Cannon!” Sena ordered, feeling his body begin to shake as he thought of Leon.

_Not Mr. Chairman._

He squeezed his eyes shut, his hand in a tight fist as Barry fired Flash Cannons, incinerating the rocks the Mega Metagross threw at him. Sena could feel tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

_Not Leon!_

His eyes flew open as Barry fired one last Flash Cannon.

“One more Agility, Barry!” He ordered, as Rudy smirked at him.

“No matter how fast you go, kid, you’ll end up getting caught!” He jeered. “End it with Bullet Punch, Mega Metagross!” Rudy cackled. “You’re _mine, _dandy boy!”

“Over my dead body!” Sena screamed, and pulled his pin off his lapel, squeezing it in his fist as he crossed his arms in front of himself. 

A burst of light surrounded him and Barry, and the Mega Metagross’s Bullet Punch came slamming down on Barry—

Only for the burst of energy to knock the Mega Metagross back. 

Rudy’s eyes widened. “Wh-_what?_”

“With the final sundrops of Alola’s blessed light,” Sena said, and the light surrounding him grew brighter. “I lay down the soul of all the men of Hoenn in a spark brighter than the sun!” 

He lowered his arms, his expression fierce as the world faded into darkness around him, his eyes completely focused on Barry, as the Vikavolt got into position in front of Sena. 

“Our most powerful Z-move!” He crossed his arms in front of him, feeling power grow inside him as he reared his arms back.

“No way!” Rudy breathed.

Power transferred from Sena to Barry, and Sena swung his arms, forming a bolt.

“_Gigavolt Havoc!_” 

Barry let out a cry, his horns parting wide as a ball of electric energy gathered between them. It grew larger and larger, until the Vikavolt shot it out towards the Mega Metagross, throwing it backwards towards Rudy. The whole battlefield was drowned in light, and Sena winced, covering his eyes as the world exploded into the spark he and Barry summoned. 

Emi watched as a column of electricity shot up into the air, and she laughed incredulously, running a hand through her hair as Riku emerged from underground, barking proudly as he finished his Dig. 

“Sena, look at you…” She breathed, leaning on her Lucario and unmindful of the dirt as she could hear the shouts of the attendees underneath her, all of them having fallen into the caves Riku made around the stadium with Dig.

* * *

“Whoa!” Officer Jenny gasped, and Kabu’s head shot up to see the large column of electricity shoot up into the sky. “That’s—what _is _that?” She gasped, sharply turning the police van towards it, and she jolted. “Wait, this is—”

“Sena.” Kabu breathed, smiling softly in awe as the column thinned into a line of yellow light. “How I wish I was there to see you.”

* * *

The light calmed down, and Sena stood up straight, panting heavily as he looked at Rudy, buried under his fainted Metagross, now finally back to its regular form. He made his way over to the man, and let out a relieved sob when he saw that Rudy, too, was unconscious. He dropped to the ground, taking a shaky breath as he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Barry buzzed happily, flying over to him, and Sena laughed weakly, petting his Vikavolt as he cuddled against his cheek.

“I won.” He said faintly, and looked around at the pitch. “It’s… mine, again.”

“Sena, _holy shit!_” Emi laughed, hurrying up to him, and Sena realised that the fencing was completely destroyed, lying in fragments around him. She dropped to the ground, pulling him into a hug. “Oh, _wow! _Fuck, I haven’t seen a Z move like that in _ages!_”

“And you may never will again.” Sena said quietly, and Emi jumped, pulling away from him. He looked up at her pleadingly. “Z moves are powered by Z-Power, which can only be recharged in Alola.” 

He looked down at his fist, and Emi deflated when he opened his fist. His Z-Ring, now modified into a pin pendant, lay on his palm, the needle puncturing through his skin. The Z-Crystal had a dull hue, and the two trainers looked down at it, their hearts sinking. 

“Oh, no.” Emi breathed. “Sena, I… I’m so sorry.”

“It’s… it’s fine.” Sena shut his eyes, sniffling as he wiped at his face. “I—I’ll figure something out.” Barry buzzed sadly, and cuddled against his trainer. Sena laughed softly, sniffling as he hugged Barry back. 

“Sena!” Kabu called, and the two trainers turned to see Kabu and Officer Jenny standing at the doorway, looking at them in alarm. “Sena, are you okay?” 

“Y-yeah!” Sena nodded, as Emi got up. “Emi—”

“Yeah, I know.” She said, and nodded at Riku. “Help them across.”

Riku nodded, sprinting towards the doorway to quickly shovel dirt into the space he’d dug around the perimeter of the stadium. Officer Jenny immediately got to work, deploying several Machamps from their Pokéballs on her belt, and Kabu let her be, making a beeline for his nephew. He dropped to his knees, pulling Sena into a hug, and the blond’s lip quivered, hugging his uncle back tightly. 

“Uncle Kabu,” He said shakily, slipping back into the Lavaridge dialect of his childhood, and Kabu tutted softly, pressing a kiss to his nephew’s temple. “It’s—it’s mine again. It’s mine.”

“Yours.” He nodded, pulling away from Sena to cup his face in his hands. “You’ve been amazing. You’ve been so brave.”

“Uncle Kabu…” Sena’s composure was fading, and he held onto Kabu like his life depended on it. 

“Was that you? Did you do that?” Kabu asked, “The pillar to the sky?” 

Sena nodded gingerly. 

“Amazing.” The man breathed, laughing softly. “You could’ve reached even Rayquaza like that.” 

“I,” Sena laughed weakly. “I could have, couldn’t I?” 

“Oh.” Kabu sighed, hugging him again. “You have to show me that move of yours again. That was amazing.”

“I… can’t.” Sena said weakly, watching Emi jump into helping Officer Jenny with apprehending people after she flashed the woman with her liaison badge. 

“You can’t?” Kabu asked, pulling away from him, and Sena showed him the Z-Crystal. “Oh, this is…”

“It’s powered by a type of energy that can only be found in Alola.” Sena said, and Kabu’s eyes widened in realisation. “I… I can’t use this anymore.”

“Oh, Sena.” Kabu sighed, squeezing Sena’s hand.

“It’s… it’s okay. I—I don’t have the time to get sad about this.” Sena sniffled, trying to get up, but he stumbled, wincing as he dropped back down. He looked up to see Kabu’s stern expression, and his expression fell. “Uncle Kabu?”

“You _do _have the time to get sad about this.” He said sternly. “Sena, you have the _right _to feel sad. You have the right to get mad, to feel something—_anything _ugly about all this.” Kabu met his nephew’s gaze. “You’ve been handed a terrible set of circumstances, and yet you have persevered through them. That is truly admirable, but do not forget that you are human.”

Sena’s vision swam, sparkling rainbows obscuring the sight of his uncle’s stern face.

“Just because you’re sunny yellow doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel sad.” He said gently, and Sena felt his heart skip a beat. “Don’t fall prey to toxic positivity. Let it out.”

“I…” He looked at the Metagross, at Emi’s Riku working hard to break the Rocket Controller on its body. He looked at Rudy, being hauled by a surprisingly able Officer Jenny from under the Metagross with a shout of effort. “I…”

Sena’s composure shattered, and he began to cry.

“It’s not fair.” He said quietly, and thought of Ishtar, of the Alolan Raichu and all the other Dexited Pokémon he saved tonight. 

“That’s right.” Kabu nodded. 

“It’s… not fair!” Sena said, a little more forcefully, as he thought of Lemons and Snips, torn away from him the day he arrived in Galar. He thought of Rudy, and how the man thought it was well within his right to take Sena’s gym from him.

“It’s not fair.” Kabu agreed. 

“It’s not fair!” Sena shouted, burying his face into Kabu‘s chest as he thought of the Rocket Controllers, of the mess he’d had to deal with, of the ratty little apartment, and the scornful stares he got from complete _strangers _in a town so far away from home. 

He thought of Leon, working hard to prevent these situations and being framed for them instead. 

“It’s… not fair.” He said weakly, and began to weep into Kabu’s shirt.

His uncle huffed fondly, and rubbed Sena’s back. 

“Leader Kabu.” Officer Jenny said gently, and Kabu turned to see her smiling at them softly. Emi was a little further behind her, keeping an eye on the people they’d arrested as the Machamps escorted them into Officer Jenny’s van. 

“Ah, yes.” Kabu nodded at her. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“I should be saying that to Leader Sena.” She gestured at him, and Kabu realised he’d quietened down. He looked at his nephew, and smiled fondly when he saw him fast asleep. “But I think that can wait until morning.”

“Please do.” Kabu said, and stroked Sena’s hair. 

Sena was so young, he thought. He was even younger than the Chairman, a fresh young face dealt the worst hand Galar could offer. 

“If it’s possible, could we schedule a meeting tomorrow?” Kabu asked, and Officer Jenny nodded. “I’ll make sure to notify the Chairman, as well.” He looked at the Lucario now gnawing at the Rocket Controller, and frowned. “I think he might want to hear about this.”

“Right.” Officer Jenny huffed. “I’d better get going. Looks like this is gonna be a long night.”

“Take care.” Kabu nodded, and Officer Jenny tipped her hat at him before striding away. Emi came up to him, and pointed at Sena, an eyebrow cocked. “He’s asleep.”

“I heard him.” Emi said, kneeling down in front of them. “He finally let it out, huh?”

“Yes.” Kabu nodded, sighing deeply. They heard the sound of Officer Jenny’s van driving away, and Kabu gestured at the Pokéball at Emi’s belt. “The scent of smoke, fire and brimstone.” He said, and she at least had the decency to blush. “You brought out your Houndoom. I hope Officer Jenny suspects nothing.”

“There was another Houndoom in the auction.” Emi said. “I can pin it on him instead.”

Kabu shook his head exasperatedly, and Emi grinned at him. 

“Sorry, not everyone’s foreign Pokémon are like yours, Uncle Kabu.” She huffed. “You lucked out and all your partners weren’t Dexited.”

Kabu shrugged, and she blew him a raspberry. 

“Well, now that this excitement is behind us, we should go home.” He said. “We’ll need to contact Leon, too…”

“Leave that to me.” Emi grinned. “I’ll make sure he gets to meet you tomorrow.”

“I’ll leave it to you, then.” Kabu nodded, and gently picked Sena up in his arms. Barry flitted after them, buzzing worriedly, and Emi grinned, watching them leave. 

She looked down at her phone, and called a number. 

“_Emmy?_” Ricki’s voice was thick with sleepiness. “_It’s almost midnight? Is Lord Narcissus making you work late again?_”

“Sorta.” She replied, grinning to herself. “Hey, I’ve got a favour to ask…”


	41. Mr. & Mr. Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t worry about the results. I want you to get out there and dance your heart out.”
> 
> “Be a _star_, Gooms. Show ‘em what we’re made of.”

“How’s that?”

“Looks pretty cool, yeah.” Cynthia nodded, raising her canned coffee before taking a sip from it. “Kinda undersells your skills, though.”

“Yeah, I _guess._” Raihan hummed, frowning as he looked at his phone, watching the routine with a pout on his face. “Not gonna lie, I’ve never really danced with my Pokémon like this before, so—whoa!”

“Hm?” Cynthia jumped, almost spilling coffee onto her shirt, and her eyes widened when Gooms suddenly hurried away. “Gooms!” She gasped. 

“Gibba! Gib!” Gibble squirmed in Cynthia’s arms, and she let out a shout, watching as the little dragon hopped out of her arms. 

“Wh—baby, where’re you going?” She called, getting up onto her feet, and she and Raihan hurried after the two dragons, who were making a beeline for the large lake in the central park they were in. Raihan and Cynthia gaped in amazement as an amazingly long Milotic jumped out of the water, much to the delight of an audience gathered by the lake. 

“Huh. Wonder what’s going on.” Raihan mumbled, but Cynthia stayed still, staring at the Pokémon. “Cynthia?”

“I know that Milotic.” She said, and looked down at the crowd Gooms and Gibble joined. “That can’t be…”

“Huh?” Raihan cocked his head at her, but he lit up when he saw Gooms carrying Gibble, the older dragon lifting the baby Pokémon to let her see. “Aw, Gooms.” He shook his head fondly, and hurried to the lake to see a tall man in a gorgeous white-and-green floral jumpsuit. He had a large, wide-brimmed sun hat on his head with a translucent blue-green ribbon, and Raihan couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen the man before. 

“Utterly gorgeous, Eurydice!” the man cooed, as the crowd burst into applause. He gave the crowd a grandiose bow, and Raihan jumped when a more familiar man got up from where he’d been sitting on the lakeshore. 

“Thanks for enjoying the show, everyone.” Steven Stone said, smiling at the crowd, and Raihan gaped at him. “If it’s alright, my husband and I would like the rest of the day to ourselves.”

The crowd murmured their thanks, and began to disperse. The two men—oh, _fuck, _how could Raihan have forgotten _Wallace Stone_—stood together, laughing softly about something they shared quietly between them. Cynthia caught up to Raihan, beaming delightedly, and Steven finally looked her way, lighting up in recognition.

“Cynthia!”

“Steven! Wallace!” She greeted happily, and the three of them shared a tight hug, as Raihan stood to the side, smiling fondly. Gooms leaned on his side, burbling curiously as she looked at Steven’s Metagross, which was currently sitting on the lakeshore, contentedly buzzing as it soaked up the sun. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you!”

“It really has!” Steven agreed, and they pulled apart. He looked over at Raihan, and he gave the younger man a smile. “And hello again, Raihan.”

“Steven Stone.” Raihan grinned, petting Gooms to follow him, and she nodded, carrying a curious Gibble with her as she followed him. Raihan held his hand out for Steven to shake, and the older man shook it, grinning. “Mr. Wallace.” He nodded at Wallace, who gave him a wry sort of grin. 

“Hello.” Wallace greeted, and his Milotic approached them, lighting up in recognition of Raihan’s Goodra. “Eurydice, it’s Gooms.” He said, and the Milotic cooed happily as Gooms rushed to her, excitedly launching into a conversation. 

“It’s so nice to see you two again,” Cynthia said, and the husbands gave her a sweet smile. “I’m sure you’ve all already met, but this is Raihan.”

“Yes, we’ve met.” Steven chuckled, shaking his head. “Not sure I’ll be able to forget how your Flygon took my Orpheus down back during Worlds.”

“Hey, it’s all fair!” Raihan laughed, and the older man nodded. 

“That’s true.” He hummed, and Wallace made a show of huffing. 

“Well, _I’m _not very happy about it.” He said, crossing his arms. “I wouldn’t object to seeing a revenge rematch, though…”

“Wallace, I thought we were here to relax.” Steven laughed into his fist, and Wallace huffed at him, crossing his arms. “C’mon, darling. You said.”

“Don’t you _darling_ me.” Wallace said, but he definitely seemed very happy to be called that way. Cynthia and Raihan laughed together, and Raihan couldn’t help but look down at their hands, at the matching cobalt blue wedding rings on their fingers.

Raihan took a deep breath. Soon, he thought. Soon, he and Leon would be like that.

Cynthia seemed to notice his reaction, and smiled fondly. Still, she didn’t mention anything, and turned back to the husbands.

“So, how’d you finally get him out of that office, Wallace?” She asked. “Wasn’t the Devon Corporation a—what’d you call it—_shackle keeping your beloved husband chained to his seat_ or something?” 

“You called it that?” Steven blinked at Wallace, who huffed and brushed back his hair from his shoulder.

“I dragged him right out of his office and shoved him into a plane.” Wallace huffed, and turned to his husband. “And yes, I _did _call it that.” He said, without a single hint of hesitation, and Steven laughed, shaking his head. “It’s true! You never have time for me _or _our son!”

“I try to make it home on time, you know that.” He shook his head, and looked at the other two trainers apologetically. “The Devon Corporation’s been a handful to run, but I’m managing. I’m sure Leon knows how I feel.”

“I’m more familiar with how Wallace is feeling, honestly.” Raihan mumbled, and Wallace jabbed his finger at Raihan.

“See, Steven? _See!_” 

“Oh! Speaking of which,” Steven quickly deflected, “Leon, I haven’t heard from him in a while. Is it true you’re getting married?” 

“I—I, uh,” Raihan paused, and Cynthia looked at him. He deflated, and shook his head. “We’re, uh… we’re not even engaged.”

“What?” Wallace blinked. “After our son was so excited to hear about it.” He frowned slightly, looking at Steven. “I suppose the rumours weren’t true, after all…”

“We were hoping to get to know Leon a little bit better,” Steven explained, when Raihan blinked at him blankly. “Of all of us Champions back during Worlds, Leon was the only person we never really got to talk to.”

“Yeah.” Cynthia said, and Raihan looked at her. “Lance, Steven, Wallace and I have stayed in pretty good contact with each other, and we’ve been pretty good friends with the other Champions as well.”

“Of course, we only recently heard about what was truly going on with Leon.” Steven said. “And then the Legendary Lockdown.” 

“Well, he’s been doing much better now.” Raihan said, and Steven’s smile was gentle.

“We can tell.” He said, looking at him pointedly, and Raihan felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. 

“Oh! By the way!” Cynthia said cheerfully, “While the two of you are here, would you be alright if Raihan and I asked for your help?”

“Hm?” The husbands blinked, and Steven cocked his head. “What kind of help?”

* * *

“This is your first time Coordinating, isn’t it?” Wallace chuckled.

“Jeez, that obvious, huh?” Raihan grumbled. The older man laughed daintily, shaking his head as he waved his hand. 

“No, I mean no offense by that. It’s really quite telling when someone has just started out on Coordinating Pokémon Contests, judging by the techniques they use.” 

“I… I see.” Raihan said faintly, and Wallace shook his head.

“Don’t be discouraged.” He said, “This is an art form that takes time to nurture, and it can get a little difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and Wallace clapped once. 

“Well, let’s start over. From the top, now, I’d like to see it again.”

Cynthia and Steven shared a little grin between them as Wallace and Raihan got to work on cobbling together a new routine in time for tonight. 

“They were about to butt heads just earlier.” Steven shook his head, and Cynthia giggled into her hand. “I’m surprised you got him to join Competitions. Wasn’t he here to just become Champion?”

“Yes and no.” Cynthia said, “It was Gooms, actually.” Steven hummed, taking a sip from his own can of coffee. “I don’t know if you’ve seen how she fights, but she’s quite the dancer.”

“I’ve seen her fight.” Steven nodded, gesturing at his husband, who was currently gesturing widely at something, and Raihan was watching him intently, nodding. “I was there when they battled.” 

“Oh, how that must have hurt for Wallace.” Cynthia giggled, and Steven shrugged.

“He could shrug it off.” He said, sighing deeply as he leant back in his seat. “In fact, I was wondering when Raihan would become Champion, too. He definitely has the makings of one.”

“I figured as much, too.” Cynthia nodded, and Steven smiled. 

“He’s got a bit of Lance in him.” He said. “You can see how much Lance has influenced his battle style.”

“Yeah.” Cynthia replied, “But I do think that he’s grown a lot since he arrived here. He’s not the same Raihan we all ran into during Worlds.”

“That’s wonderful to hear.” He turned to Cynthia, and the blonde cocked her head at him. “Just a quick question about something, Cynthia, but have you heard of the Lake of Life?”

“Oh.” She blinked at him, sitting up straighter. “Yes, I have. Is something the matter? Is someone after it?”

“I see.” Steven frowned slightly, and set his can down. “No, not that I know of. I’m sure Lance may be able to say something, but I personally can’t.” He gave her a wry grin. “After all, I _did _let a man almost end the world.”

Her shoulders sagged, and he shook his head. “Apologies.”

“It’s okay.” She mumbled. “None of us could’ve known.”

“That’s true.” Steven hummed, and smiled as he watched Wallace drill Raihan through his routine with a sternness he’d missed seeing in his husband. “It’s something… I haven’t talked to Wallace about, either.”

“Steven.” Cynthia breathed, and he shook his head. 

“We’ve been through a lot, but there are things you can’t bring up to your partner, especially.” He nodded at Raihan, “I’m sure Raihan feels that way sometimes, too.”

“What… are you implying?” Cynthia asked. 

“I need to go to the Lake of Life to confirm something.” Steven said. “It’s been bothering me for a while now, but with Professor Sonia’s new findings, and Raihan, I…” He bit his lip, and Cynthia’s eyes widened. “I think… I have my own secondary typing.”

“Steven.” Cynthia breathed. “How… how long have you known?”

“I can’t say.” He shook his head. “It’s definitely not as obvious as Raihan’s, that’s for sure.” He frowned. “Which was why I wanted to see the Lake of Life.”

Cynthia deflated. “You’re not just in Sinnoh for a holiday, are you?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Steven shook his head. “Though I’d much rather Wallace think of it as a holiday.” 

“Oh, man.” Cynthia sank back against her seat, and Steven nodded sagely. 

“I was thinking about our son.” He said quietly. “His name's Cobalt, he's just gone on his first adventure while we were out.”

Cynthia nodded, and Steven sighed. “He’s mine. I promised my father I’d give him a grandson, so Wallace and I had a surrogate.” Steven looked down at his hand. “If I’m… different, I don’t know if he’ll be _different, _too.”

“Steven…” The blonde shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with your secondary typing.” 

“If I even _have _one, Cynthia, but thank you.” Steven chuckled, shaking his head. “Sorry, I didn’t realise how terribly that came out. I don’t mean anything harmful by being different, but… I have my concerns.” He looked at Raihan, resting his chin on his laced fingers as he sighed deeply. “What if, someday, our son could have the same problems as Raihan has?”

“That’s what we’re trying to fix.” Cynthia said, and Steven sat up, cocking his head at her. She met his gaze evenly, and nodded firmly. “I have faith in Raihan that he’ll get to the bottom of all this. I want to ask you to do the same.”

Steven smiled slowly at that, and nodded. 

“If you say so, then I’ll believe it.” He said, and she lit up. “For the future.” Steven held up his can, and Cynthia raised her own can of coffee.

“For everyone with secondary typing.” She said, and they clinked their cans together.

* * *

“Holy _fuck,_ look at that berth everyone’s giving them.” Raihan hissed, and Cynthia giggled as she peered out at the Contest Hall seats, where Steven and Wallace were gleefully sitting in a VIP box hastily cleared out for them, and Cynthia. “I’m _fucked, _Cynthia.”

“Somehow, you were less scared of dealing with the Mega Salamence.” She hummed, and Raihan looked at her witheringly. 

“Facing off dragons is easier.”

“Easier than Coordinating and having fun on stage?” Cynthia laughed incredulously, and Raihan pouted at her as she patted his shoulder, shaking her head. “Have faith in Gooms! With Wallace as your mentor, you’ve got nothing to worry about!”

“I’ve got _everything _to worry about! What if I fuck up?” Raihan hissed at her, “I’m an _amateur, _those people out there, they’re professionals!”

“C’mon, where’d all your confidence go?” Cynthia huffed, and Raihan’s cheeks darkened. Tonight, he was dressed in something they’d cobbled together—much like his routine, really—from both Raihan’s bags and Wallace’s bags, and an impromptu shopping trip that lasted way too long thanks to Cynthia’s indecisive staring at a pair of leather boots. 

Raihan was in an old Rotom shirt that they’d hastily fixed up in the Stones’ hotel room, laughing together while Raihan had to scold Gibble for gnawing on the poor thing. The whole top portion had gone missing, and Wallace had the bright idea of replacing it with sheer black cloth, something they’d stripped off a shirt they bought and added to the old Rotom shirt. The stitching was a little messy, Cynthia had to admit (please, it’d been a while), but they were hidden well enough by the outline of the Rotom’s eyes. 

Wallace—bless him, the only man with a brain cell in their group—even transformed the shirt into a crop top, after sternly telling Raihan to bid it farewell, something Raihan had reluctantly done, watching petulantly as he held Gibble in his lap while she watched the three ex-Champions work. The finishing touch had been a bit of organic glitter from a bath bomb Cynthia bought on impulse, blushed on top of the sheer cloth to make it sparkle under harsh light.

He wore a pair of slim-fit cargo pants that hung low on his waist—something from Raihan’s suitcase—and a pair of red sneakers that Cynthia recognised as something Raihan had bought on their shopping trip the night before. 

“I dunno. With all the publicity we got last time…” he shook his head, running his hands through his dreads. He still had his headband on, his hair still up in the usual style. “You think this one’s gonna turn out well?”

“Please. Wallace would _die _first before he let _any_ Competition go kaput.” Cynthia rolled her eyes, and patted his shoulder. “You’ve got this. You’re not here to win, you’re here to have fun.”

“Yeah.” Raihan gave her a little smile, and she nodded, gently patting his chin.

“That’s the spirit. Keep smiling, Raihan.” Cynthia gave him a thumbs up, and Raihan grinned at her. “Just give it a try! It’ll be fun!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Raihan shook his head, and watched as Cynthia hurried away. He huffed fondly to himself, and strode back into the communal dressing room, where the other performers were far too busy preparing themselves to notice him. He huffed, making his way over to his spot—marked with a very eager-looking Gooms, wearing a pair of Pokémon accessory sunglasses that were in the shape of a Rotom’s bolt. He gave her a grin, holding up his fist for her to bump, and she met his gaze determinedly, nodding as she bumped her paw against his fist. “Let’s just have fun out there, okay, girl?”

Gooms cooed happily, and Raihan grinned at her, pulling her close into a hug. 

“Just don’t worry about me. You can go as hard as you like, as long as you keep an ear out for me, okay?” 

Gooms nodded, and he grinned at her. He turned to his phone.

“Rotom?” He asked, and the Rotom inside his phone buzzed happily. “Record me just like we practiced. Try to stay out of the TV cameras’ way, okay?”

“_Noted!_” Rotom chirped, and Raihan grinned at Gooms. 

“Okay, Gooms. Let’s go over that routine one more time…”

* * *

“... And then, of course, Raihan was so _stubborn _about it, I was about to challenge him to another battle—”

“Cynthia!” Steven lit up, and Wallace stopped in the middle of his rant as Cynthia peered into the VIP box, grinning at the husbands. The silver-haired man gestured for Cynthia to come in, and she settled down next to Steven with a sigh, as Wallace shook his head, huffing exasperatedly. 

“Don’t get too angry, Wallace, or you’ll get wrinkles like Steven and I do.” Cynthia said airily, and Wallace rolled his eyes. 

“Raihan has to be one of the most _stubborn _students I’ve ever had.” Wallace said, and Steven looked at Cynthia apologetically. She shook her head.

“Nah, he’s right.” She said, and Wallace pointed at her. She clicked her tongue, cocking a lazy finger gun at him, and Steven laughed into his hand as Wallace lit up. “Raihan’s got a head tougher than rocks. Stubborn, headstrong…”

Cynthia smiled, as the lights dimmed. 

“But that’s the best part about him.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Wallace shook his head. “He’ll go very far, I’d say.” 

“Really?” Steven hummed, and leaned against Wallace’s side as the show began. His husband chuckled, and nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of Steven’s head. 

“Yes.” He said softly. “Might even make it to finals.”

“Wouldn’t that be a sight to see.” Cynthia sighed.

* * *

“_Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to tonight’s Pokémon Contest!_” 

Raihan could hear the host outside, and he looked up from his phone to see the first few performers heading out of the dressing room to get backstage. He took a shaky breath, and looked up at the TV broadcasting what was going on outside. 

“_—And Jubilife City is proud to welcome the legendary Coordinator of Hoenn, the long-time-reigning Top Coordinator Wallace Stone!_”

“Oh, wow.” Raihan blinked, watching as the camera panned to Wallace in the VIP box, daintily giving the camera a wave. Next to him, Steven was saying something to his husband, and Wallace laughed, lifting Steven’s hand to press a kiss to his wedding ring affectionately. Raihan smiled a little at that, gently thumbing at his own promise, currently hidden in his pants pocket. 

“_And now, to introduce tonight’s Contest rules! Tonight’s round is a single performance, with Coordinators showcasing the absolute best of what their single partner Pokémon can do!_”

* * *

“Singles.” Cynthia blinked. “I didn’t know Contests had singles and doubles lineups now.” 

“It would normally be two Pokémon, yes.” Wallace nodded. “But there was a time when the Kalosian Contest Association had stepped in, and completely reformed the system of Coordinating.” He gave Cynthia a wry grin. “I was not fond of the meetings that ensued.”

“You were _there?_” She asked, and he nodded, sighing deeply.

“I had been an acting Chairman of sorts for the Hoenn Contest Association.” Wallace pulled a face. “Of course, I resigned immediately after that. I would not have that dreadful position tear me away from the Sootopolis Gym.”

“Oh, I remember that.” Steven chuckled. “Coming home with such a dreadful wrinkle between your eyes.” He shook his head. “Very angry.” 

“It was a mess, what with all the old-time Associations refusing to change.” Wallace shook his head. “All the representatives were there, of course. It took _forever, _but somehow Contests eventually became about as regulated and structured as Pokémon League Championships are.”

“Oh, I see!” Cynthia nodded. “That sounds about right, since I ran into similar problems running the Sinnohan Pokémon League here.”

The ex-champions shared a quiet laugh together. 

“Well, it turned out alright, didn’t it?” Steven asked, smiling sweetly, and Cynthia huffed, nodding. 

“I suppose.”

* * *

“_The theme for this Contest is the monsoon. With the season fast approaching, how can these Coordinators showcase the beauty of the Sinnohan monsoon? Let’s find out!_”

Raihan took a deep breath, grinning to himself as he leaned back in his seat. Wallace had told him about the theme earlier that day—apparently neither Raihan nor Cynthia had an _idea _about the themes that each Contest had. It was a good thing they ran into each other, and an even better thing that Wallace had been in the area as a special guest. 

They’d ended up scrapping Raihan’s initial routine, earning him a mild, unimpressed look from Wallace when he first showed it to him, and completely rebuilt it from the ground up. 

“_Contests are supposed to highlight your partners, not you._” Wallace had said. “_It’s just like battling. Your Pokémon are the stars of the show, and you are just the conductor._”

“_Coordinator._” Raihan mumbled, and Wallace nodded. 

“_Precisely. So, the important thing to do here would be to make a routine that would showcase how charming dear Gooms is. How elegant her movements are. She’s a star, Raihan, the most beautiful Pokémon in the world!_” Wallace had taken Gooms’s paws, then, and gestured grandly at the stars in her eyes. “_Look at her holding the light of the world in her eyes._” 

Raihan looked at Gooms, and smiled fondly as he reached for her paw. She cooed happily, and snuggled his cheek. 

“_Bright, bold, and beautiful. A powerful, yet elegant Pokémon, rivalling the powers of gods._” Wallace’s voice said in his head. “_You’re a dragon yourself, aren’t you? Show the world what it’s like to be in Arceus’s loving grace._”

“Gooms.” Raihan said, and Gooms hummed curiously. 

“I just want you to have fun.” He smiled at her, and his dragon cooed happily. “Don’t worry about the results. I want you to get out there and dance your heart out.” Raihan sighed, pressing his forehead against hers, and the Goodra hummed contentedly. “Be a _star, _Gooms. Show ‘em what we’re made of.”

Gooms huffed, nodding determinedly, and Raihan grinned at her as he held his fist out for her. She bumped it with her paw, and he held up her Pokéball. “Let’s go, girl.”

She nodded, and put herself back into her Pokéball. Raihan took a deep breath, and put it in a Ball Capsule. He huffed fondly, looking down at the Seals he and Cynthia put on it, and nodded to himself. 

“Here we go.”


	42. The Contest Spectacular

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Raihan of Hammerlocke City!”

Leon had been awake since 5, grinning brightly as he snuggled with Pumpkin on the couch, surrounded by what was left of Raihan’s team and his own team as they all eagerly waited for the broadcast to begin. It was Raihan’s first Contest, he _had _to watch it, no matter what. It was by some small miracle that the Contest timing was a little more forgiving than Raihan’s Gym battles, which Leon _knew _he wouldn’t be able to see live, if he ever chose to stream them. 

For now, he would settle with this. 

Pumpkin gnashed her jaws softly, and Leon hushed her, pressing a kiss to her head as she yawned, snuggling against his chest. Red looked down at her, and blew warm air over her back to send her right back to sleep. 

“Thanks, bud.” Leon said warmly, petting the side of Red’s neck, and the Charizard growled softly, settling down in front of the couch with a huff. Patroclus rumbled softly, and Leon looked up at the Turtonator, who was peering forlornly at the TV. “Aw, Patroclus. I know you miss him.” 

The Turtonator whined softly, and Leon held his hand out at him to come closer. Patroclus gingerly approached him, and settled down next to Leon, contentedly holding his hand.

“Good boy.” Leon said warmly, chuckling as he felt Pumpkin’s limp weight on his chest soothing him. He sighed, snuggling back into the soft cushions of the couch. “I wonder when Raihan will come out…”

* * *

Raihan bounced on his heels, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. He was next, and the nerves were starting to set in. 

“Never felt like _this _before.” He laughed softly to himself, looking out at the crowd, and thought back to the first time he started the Gym Challenge.

He shut his eyes, smiling softly. 

It was just like back then, he realised. As a little kid, with little to no support, the whole world’s eyes on him. Now, he was a bit luckier, he supposed, but the thought was the same. 

Taking the plunge into a world he’d never known before.

“_Thank you for that marvelous performance! Up next after the stage is cleared, is Raihan!_”

* * *

“Raihan!” Cynthia cheered, shooting up from her seat, clapping loudly and whooping delightedly. Steven jumped, but he laughed, leaning into Wallace’s side as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders, laughing. “Go! Raihan!”

“You’re not cheering for your student, Wallace?” Steven asked warmly, and Wallace huffed.

“I’d get called out for conflicting interest.” He said, and Cynthia looked at him over her shoulder, grinning. “Though if I could, I would. He _is _my student.” 

“Then I’ll just cheer for him enough for the three of us!” She grinned, and jumped when a Pokéball deployed from her handbag. “Oh!” Gibble jumped up and down on the ground, and Steven lit up. Wallace let him go, letting Steven get up to pick the baby Gible up and put her on his lap. 

“She must have wanted to watch, too.” He said, and Cynthia nodded, chuckling softly as Gibble looked up at him with wide eyes. “Hello, little baby.”

“A shiny Gible?” Wallace asked. “How lucky. Is Raihan aiming to have a Garchomp, like you?”

“Yeah.” Cynthia nodded, pulling out an orange light stick from her pocket. “Her name’s Gibble.”

“Creative.” Wallace huffed, as Steven wagged his finger in front of her.

“Hello, Gibble.” He greeted, and the baby Pokémon chomped her jaw, looking at his finger intently. “C’mon, now. Time to watch your Trainer.” He huffed, turning her around so she could see the stage. Gibble held his finger, and he chuckled softly—but she suddenly bit it, purring happily.

Steven’s expression tightened, and Cynthia couldn’t help but see what was happening. 

“Steven?” Wallace asked, but Steven shook his head, pressing a kiss to his husband’s cheek.

“It’s nothing.” He said, pulling his finger out of Gibble’s mouth, and seeing not even a line of blanched skin. Steven met Cynthia’s gaze, and her eyes widened slightly at him. He shook his head.

_It didn’t feel like anything._

Cynthia bit her lip, and turned back to the show. 

_Just _what _could be Steven’s typing, then?_ She thought, but she had no time to waste when the stage was finally cleared, and the lights dimmed. 

Maybe she and Steven could talk about it later—Raihan could probably help.

* * *

Raihan shut his eyes, as the stage went quiet, and a spotlight shone on him. 

“_Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Raihan of Hammerlocke City!_”

He thrust Gooms’s ball above his head, grinning wildly.

His Rotom Phone flew out from behind him, and the crowd ‘ooh’ed as he spun once, throwing Gooms’s ball high above his head as it burst open. The Goodra emerged from her Pokéball in a burst of bolts of electricity with a cry, spinning in the air as she landed. Behind her, Raihan struck his growling pose, and earned himself cheers from the crowd. 

“Rain Dance!” He ordered, and Gooms raised her arms into the air, beginning to dance. He hurried up next to her, and she beamed at him happily as they danced together in a high-energy dance that summoned clouds overhead. A light drizzle filled the area, and Raihan slicked his dreads back, pulling his headband down so it rested around his neck. The crowd began to clap along with the beat, and Raihan grinned. “Now, Surf!”

He spun Gooms once, letting her go as she twirled away from him, gathering the rainwater into a wave that washed across the stage towards him. Raihan nodded, bracing himself to hold still as he felt the force of the wave push him backward. When it got overwhelming, he did a forward handspring over the water to head towards her. “Sludge Bomb!”

The crowd gasped as Gooms let out a burst of slime from her body towards him as he dropped onto his knees, sliding right across the floor over the slime until it ran out. He could hear the crowd gasp in awe, and Raihan looked back at Gooms. “Gooms!” She nodded, hurrying to the front as Raihan did a helicopter back up onto his feet, and he took Gooms’s paw as they faced the audience together.

“Rain Dance!” He called, and she began to dance anew, reaching for his other hand as they danced again. Raihan laughed brightly as the rain began to fall again, summoning kaleidoscopes of colour and mist around them as she spun him. Raihan held onto her, and she nodded, taking the cue to dip him, standing aside as Raihan leaned even further back to stand on his hands.

“Thunder!” he called, doing a back handspring over Gooms’s goo, landing on his feet with a wide grin on his face. 

Gooms twirled out of his way, facing the back of the stage as she set off a wall of electricity behind them, lighting up the stage brightly. She cooed happily, twirling on the tips of her feet as the rain petered out, Raihan coming up beside her to raise her paw, pressing a kiss to it. They beamed at each other, and ended the performance with a bow.

The crowd burst into cheers, and Raihan grinned brightly, straightening up alongside Gooms as he waved at the audience. Gooms seemed _delighted, _too, jumping up and down as she waved at the crowd like her trainer. 

“You did it, girl!” Raihan cheered, and she nodded, launching herself at him with a happy cheer. “Whoa!” Raihan laughed, holding Gooms close, and he pressed his forehead to hers, smiling. “You were _amazing!_”

Gooms cheered, and he pressed a kiss to her snout, before holding up her Pokéball. “Thanks so much for your hard work, Gooms.” He said, and she smiled at him sweetly, before putting herself back into her Pokéball. Raihan held her Pokéball close to his heart, and he gave the crowd a sunny grin, before jogging backstage.

* * *

Leon finally released the breath he didn’t realise he was holding, unable to stop smiling as he watched the live replay of Raihan’s performance while the stage was being cleaned up. 

“Oh, wow.” He breathed, laughing dazedly as he fell back in his seat while the Pokémon around him cheered delightedly. “Raihan, that was _amazing!_” 

He sat up and quickly grabbed his phone, sending his fiancé a message.

_I saw your performance! You were amazing!_

Leon looked back at the TV, unable to stop smiling as his cheeks began to hurt. Oh, it was so good to see him dance like that again. He hadn’t been able to move around a lot, but Leon knew that Raihan could practically bounce off the walls whenever he needed to let out any pent-up stress. Of course, when they were together, they could blow that off with sex, but now so far apart, Leon was glad that Raihan had some outlet, at least.

It _did _help that Raihan looked irresistible on stage, dressed in streetwear and soaked with water. The mesh was a _fantastic _idea, and he wished he could shake the hand of whoever came up with that. His phone vibrated, and Leon quickly read Raihan’s message.

_OH SHIT LMAO you saw!!!! ur up early _

Leon laughed softly to himself and sent back a reply. 

_Of course I had to. It’s you._

Leon sighed happily, pressing his phone to his heart. He jumped when the reply came back. 

_awww babe love u too. theres a round 2 so dont turn the screen off yet _

Leon smiled. 

_Of course I won’t. _

_dont run late for work_

_I think my boss will let me have a pass. _

He hesitated for a moment, and grinned wider. 

_He just said yes, I can come in late. _

_ughhhh u dork i love u so much_

_gotta go i hv to prep_

_Knock them dead, Rai. _

Leon sighed, settling back down in his seat. “Wonder where he learned that from, though…” he murmured, and thought of the Coordinator the host introduced at the beginning of the show. “Stone, huh… the name rings a bell.”

Leon frowned, absently toying with his hair as he tried to remember. 

“Stone… hm.”

A blurry face, a kind smile, silver hair.

Leon shook his head. “I got nothing.” He huffed. “That’s stupid.” 

He saw Cynthia in the VIP box with them, though. Maybe they knew each other?

Leon shrugged. He supposed he would just have to ask Raihan about them later. He turned his attention back to the TV, where the next Coordinator was already performing.

* * *

“Oh, Raihan and Gooms were _amazing!_” Cynthia cooed, and Wallace nodded knowingly, smiling as he tapped his chin in thought. 

“He did marvellously.” He agreed, and looked at Steven, who was laughing helplessly as Gibble struggled in his arms, cheering happily. “Oh, Steven.” Wallace laughed fondly, and his husband finally managed to calm the baby Pokémon down, petting her head with a laugh. 

“Wasn’t he amazing?” Steven asked Gibble, who burbled happily, gnashing her jaw. “Thought so!”

“If he qualifies for the next round, it’s time for a battle.” Wallace nodded. “Nothing difficult, of course. Raihan’s built for competitive battling, and Gooms is an elegant battler. He’ll have no problems here.” 

“I’d say.” Cynthia giggled. “I can’t believe it, you really transformed his routine, Wallace! That was amazing!”

“Well, the two of you did start off not knowing what the theme was!” He huffed, getting up to stand next to Cynthia at the railing of their VIP box, quickly losing themselves in a conversation about how they had trained with Raihan. 

Steven smiled fondly at them, making a move to get up, when he saw Cynthia’s bag wiggle. He looked at it from where it sat on the side table, and Gibble burbled curiously, looking up at him with mild concern. He shook his head, but suddenly, a Pokéball deployed from Cynthia’s bag. 

Steven blinked at the Swablu that emerged, and mentally tried to catalog Raihan and Cynthia’s teams. He wasn’t aware of anyone that had a Swablu, but he’d heard from Cynthia that she had an Altaria, trained up from a Swablu in preparation for Raihan’s arrival in Sinnoh. 

Considering Gibble in his arms, then this Swablu was _probably _Raihan’s.

“H-hello.” He said, smiling softly as he reached out for it, but it suddenly flew out of the door. Steven jumped, shooting up to his feet as he hurried out the door after it, a babbling Gibble in his arms. “Hey! Wait!” He called after the Swablu in a surprisingly empty corridor, and he came to a slow halt, looking at the corridor around him. “Wh-what…? Where’d everyone go?” He murmured. The Swablu was gone, and he sighed, shaking his head as he turned around—

And almost _screamed _when he saw the Swablu in front of him. Steven gripped his chest, panting softly as he stared at the Swablu in alarm, and suddenly his own Pokéball deployed. Orpheus landed heavily on the ground in front of him, rumbling deeply as it stared at the Swablu threateningly. “O-Orpheus. What’s—”

Orpheus stood between its Trainer and the Swablu, letting out a warning growl. The Swablu peered at Steven for a long moment, before dropping to the ground. Steven jolted, jumping on top of Orpheus, only for the Swablu to come flying back up towards him.

“No!” He gasped, shielding Gibble with his body—

But he realised that the Swablu was pressing something into his hand. Steven stopped, straightening up to see the Swablu put a tiny pebble onto his palm. 

“This is…” He laughed slightly. “Quartz. Commonly found in home gardens.” The Swablu looked at him intently, and Steven stopped. “Wait. What?” 

He got down from Orpheus, who buzzed worriedly, moving close to Steven as the man looked at the Swablu, eyes wide. 

“You don’t mean…?”

The Swablu suddenly bit his finger, _hard, _and Orpheus let out a screech of alarm. 

Steven stood there, staring at the Swablu gnawing on his finger, where it was barely causing any damage, despite how desperately it seemed to be trying to take his finger off. His eyes welled with tears as realisation sank in his chest.

“No.” He breathed. “I can’t be.”

The Swablu looked at him—

“Steven?” Wallace’s voice broke through the haze of Steven’s mind, and he shook his head, realising that he’d somehow fallen asleep in his seat. Wallace sighed in relief, hugging Steven tightly, and he blinked slowly, sitting up a little straighter as he hugged his husband back. He looked up at Cynthia, who was peering at him worriedly. 

“What… happened?” He asked, and Cynthia looked at Wallace as he pulled away from Steven. 

“You disappeared from the VIP box.” He said, and Steven blinked at him. “I—I was really worried. Then Orpheus brought you back, and you and Gibble were fast asleep on top of him.”

“Raihan’s Swablu… was there too.” Cynthia said, and Steven jolted, turning around to see the Swablu perched on top of his Metagross, seemingly in deep conversation with it. Steven blinked at it, and he looked down at his arms to see Gibble still fast asleep, just like Wallace said. He frowned, shaking his head as he adjusted himself 

“Steven, what happened?” Wallace asked gently, cupping his face in his hands, inspecting his eyes. “Did someone hurt you?”

Steven thought back to the Swablu trying to chew on his finger, and shook his head.

“No.” He replied, and Wallace heaved a sigh of relief, resting his head on his husband’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Wallace.” 

“It’s fine.” Wallace said, though Steven knew him well enough by now. It really wasn’t, but Wallace pecked him on his lips, and Steven finally mustered up a smile. Wallace smiled at him, framing his face in his hands, and the sound of music swelling caught their attention. Cynthia turned to look at the stage, where the host appeared with a flourish, holding up a staff with a Klefki on it. 

“_And now, the finalists!_” He declared, and Cynthia and Wallace jumped, the blonde hurrying to the railing of the VIP box, while Wallace stayed behind with his husband. “_Ladies and gentlemen, here are the Coordinators you have chosen!_”

The screen overhead flashed, and eight faces appeared. 

“Raihan!” Cynthia and Wallace cheered, and Wallace got up to join hands with Cynthia. They jumped up and down in place, cheering happily. “Oh, he did it!”

“Rank 1!” Wallace sighed happily, settling down into his seat next to Steven, and grinned at his husband. “I’ve still got it.” 

“You never lost it.” He chuckled, and Gibble stirred awake in his arms, yawning softly. “Hey, baby.” Steven said gently, and the baby Pokémon looked up at him. “Raihan’s moved along the competition.”

Gibble cooed happily, and Cynthia smiled. 

“Looks like someone’s gonna have to commit, huh?” She huffed, and Wallace scoffed. 

“He’d better! I spent time and effort on him.” He said, and Steven laughed softly behind his hand. 

“I’m sure he will.” Steven nodded. “He doesn’t seem to be the type to do things halfway.”

“Oh?” Cynthia grinned. “Why’d you say that?”

“He didn’t marry Leon yet, he came here to be a Champion, didn’t he?” Steven smiled, cocking his head. “A man like that… is driven.”

Cynthia’s gaze softened on him. 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “You’re right.”

* * *

_Congratulations! You’re my favourite reason to run late._

_holy shit lee. thanks n pls go to work_

Raihan’s heart was still pounding in his ears, and the ribbon he’d won sat in the case Wallace handed him himself. The four of them stood in the Contest Hall backstage after the entire ceremony was over, where Raihan was crowned victor of that night’s Contest. It was almost midnight by then, but Raihan felt wide awake as ever, staring at the ribbon in shock.

“So, what do you think?” Cynthia beamed at him. 

Give it a try, she said. It’d be _fun, _she said. 

Cynthia was trying not to laugh at his dazed expression, hiding her grin behind her hand as they all stared at the results of Raihan and Gooms’s hard work. Gibble burbled happily—now back in Raihan’s arms—as she wiggled her stubby little arms up at Raihan, demanding kisses. 

The young man laughed nervously. “I can’t believe this.” He said weakly, giving his Gible a peck on her head as Steven gave him a little grin. 

“Look who’s a crowd favourite.” He said, and Wallace gave Raihan a wry grin. 

“It’s you.” He nodded, affirming Raihan’s sinking feeling, and Raihan turned to look at Gooms, who was still staring at her own ribbon in awe. “And Gooms, of course.”

“Gooms, we uh…” Raihan began, but his Goodra looked at him hopefully. He laughed, shaking his head as he took her paw. She looked at him, her eyes asking him if she was really seeing what they were seeing, and Raihan couldn’t help but think that Wallace was right.

Gooms held entire constellations in her eyes. She really _was _quite the beauty. 

“Yep, that’s us.” He said, and she jumped, cooing happily as she pulled him into a tight hug. Raihan burst out laughing, cuddling Gooms and Gibble, and the trainers with him laughed along as Gooms danced delightedly. They came to a stop, the Goodra taking a deep, happy breath, and he grinned up at her. “Guess we gotta commit, huh, girl?” He asked, stroking her neck, and she nodded. “Now we’re _really _in the thick of it.”

“Like I said, think of it as an ice breaker.” Cynthia said, and Raihan turned to grin at her witheringly. “You won’t have Wallace with you anymore, but we know that now that you’re used to this, you’ll be able to come up with great things on your own.”

Raihan laughed, and put Gooms and Gibble back into their Pokéballs. 

“I would still very much like to see you in the finals.” Wallace said, and Raihan laughed sheepishly, shaking his head. “No, truly. You have what it takes to excel in Contests, as well.”

“Just don’t lose sight of your goal.” Steven smiled, and Raihan sobered up. “Don’t forget being Champion, either.”

“Sounds like a tall task, guys.” Raihan grinned, and the ex-Champions gave him bright grins. “But I’ll take you on!”

“That’s the spirit!” Cynthia nodded, and took his hand. “But for now, let’s get a drink!” 

Raihan lit up. “Whoa, really?”

“Of course!” Wallace nodded, lacing his arm around Raihan’s free arm, and the younger man jumped. Wallace gave him a grin, as he pulled Steven, who was laughing helplessly, along by his hand. “And _you’re _paying.”

“No way!” Raihan jumped, but he dissolved into laughter as the four of them began to head out.


	43. On The Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Boss, we finally got news from the Derbyton Gym.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you missed it, there's [a secondary typeverse spinoff](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857795) that's up about steven stone and how he discovered his secondary typing (spoilers: it doesn't turn out well). there's even a missing scene from chapter 41! please check it out, if you're interested.

“_Ooh, Mr. Chairman, don’t make this a habit!_” Leon was late to work again, but this time, he had a wide grin on his face.

“I swear I have a good reason to be late!” Leon laughed, his phone caught between his ear and his shoulder. Ricki giggled on the other side, and she hummed knowingly. 

“_I didn’t get to see the stream—sorry, was feeding the latest Growlithe litter—but I saw my timeline explode! Must’ve been amazing._”

“Oh, he was.” Leon sighed happily, as Red shot through the Wyndon skyline. “I saw it live.”

“_I knew there was a reason why you were late._” Ricki huffed, and Leon laughed. 

“Sorry, sorry!” He said, “I’m on my way, I promise. I can see HQ just up ahead!”

“_Hmph! I’ve got some important things for you, you know!_” Ricki said, but Leon could hear the smile in her voice. “_But still… I’m glad you’re doing so much better, Boss. really, I am. The last time you were late…_”

“Thanks, Ricki.” Leon said warmly, as he and Red landed on the roof of the building. He took a deep breath as he jumped off Red’s back, putting him back into his Pokéball as he hurried down to his office floor. He hung up as he approached the door, and strode in, grinning widely. “See! I’m here.”

“There you are!” Ricki huffed, and Leon jumped when he saw Detective Robin sitting in the waiting area. The man lit up, standing as his Boltund stood to attention by his feet. 

“Detective Robin.” Leon said, hurrying over to him to shake his hand. “Isn’t it dangerous for you to be here? Shouldn’t we be meeting in Locksley?”

“No, this isn’t quite the TR Controller issue.” Detective Robin said, looking at Leon’s assistant. Leon looked at her, Ricki nodded. 

“Boss, we finally got news from the Derbyton Gym.” She said, and Leon’s eyes widened. 

“Sena?” he asked, and Robin nodded grimly. He held out a folder to Leon, who took it warily. Quickly, Leon opened it up, and his eyes widened when a broken Rocket Controller in an evidence bag fell out. He looked up at the detective, who nodded gravely. “I thought…”

“It isn’t just that.” Robin said. “Leader Sena discovered an illegal battling ring.” 

“What?” Leon breathed. “_Inside _the Gym?”

Robin nodded. “That, and apparently the Pokémon being used to battle there were all stolen from Dexit quarantine facilities.” He looked at his watch. “We’re scheduled to meet with Officer Jenny in Derbyton for details.”

“I should come, too.” Leon looked at Ricki, who nodded.

“I sorted out your schedule today.” She said. “I’ve cleared you out for the morning.”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, shaking his head. “Wow, it’s like you’re psychic, Ricki. How’d you know to do that?”

Ricki gave him a sunny grin. “A friend asked for a favour.” She gestured for the two men to head to the door. “Now, we’d better get going, or we’ll be late.”

“Derbyton’s quite a ways away from here. We’ll run late.” Leon frowned, and Robin lit up. 

“If I may be so forward, Mr. Chairman, I do have an idea.” He said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I have a much faster way to get to Derbyton.”

“Oh?”

* * *

Leon was trying not to laugh. There was something terrible that happened in one of the League’s Gyms, and they were in a hurry after Leon came into work late that day. 

He _shouldn’t _be laughing.

But hearing Ricki screaming with each turn of Robin’s Corviknight was _hilarious._ She’d been with him on Flying Taxi rides, but he supposed she wasn’t used to riding on the _backs _of Pokémon, and certainly not one as massive or as fast as Robin’s old Corviknight, Marian.

“Not far now!” Robin said, and Leon nodded.

“Thanks!” He called back, and looked back down at his shaking assistant, smiling fondly. “You okay?”

“Y-y-yes, sir!” She stammered. She was sandwiched between the two men, holding desperately onto Robin’s coat, while Leon held her steady. “I-I-I’m fine!”

“You could’ve followed after us on a Flying Taxi.” He said, “I’d cover the fare for you.”

“No, I’m fine!” She shouted.

“Descending!” Robin barked, and Ricki screamed anew.

Leon shook his head, laughing brightly as Marian did an utterly _thrilling _nosedive.

* * *

Sena woke with a groan, sitting up slowly in the futon he and Kabu brought out the night before. He yawned, and smelled soup being made outside. He peered at his bed and saw that it was made—Kabu was making breakfast, it seemed. Sena huffed and got to work on packing up the yellow futon, before heading to the door. 

He strode past his depowered Z-Crystal on the study table next to the door, and tried not to think about it. 

“Uncle Kabu?” Sena called, and he softened up when he saw his team and Kabu’s Centiskorch eating together in the living room. 

“Sena.” Kabu said from the kitchen, “Help me set the table.” He said in the Lavaridge dialect as strode out from behind the kitchen counter, and Sena nodded. 

“Right.” He replied, and uncle and nephew got to work on getting breakfast. They sat down together at the couch with contented twin sighs, and ate quietly. This morning was grilled fish—how Kabu managed that, Sena can hardly imagine, but he would wager it was with the Centiskorch’s help—and rice, and Sena sighed contentedly when he sipped at a bowl of fermented bean soup.

“Aren’t you glad we got the miso stock?” Kabu asked, and Sena jumped, making the older man laugh softly. “Sorry. I was trying to break the ice.”

“More like _melt _it.” Sena chuckled, and Kabu gave him a little grin. He sobered up at that and sighed. “Uncle Kabu, please don’t tell Officer Jenny this, but… Emi has a Dexited Pokémon.”

“Ah, you’ve met her Houndoom, have you.” Kabu said, and Sena gaped at him. “Yes, I knew about her.” Kabu nodded. “Ishtar, was it?”

“Y-yeah.” Sena nodded. “B-but you—how’d you—”

“What else could have withstood a Hypnosis attack long enough to bite Emi’s arm, Sena?” Kabu asked, and Sena gaped at him. “The first time you met Rudy, Emi deployed her Houndoom to save the both of you.”

“The bite.” Sena said faintly. “That’s right, there was… no way a Lucario could cause wounds like that on her arm…”

“Good. Perceptive as ever.” Kabu nodded, and Sena looked down at his breakfast. His uncle raised an eyebrow at him, and huffed fondly. “Do you feel like it’s unfair?”

“I…” Sena hummed. “No, I think… well, I’m _pretty sure _Emi didn’t _steal _Ishtar.” He shook his head. “I’m not… _angry, _I guess. I’m just… well...”

Kabu patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts, and Sena sighed. 

“I guess I’m just wondering if maybe things would’ve been really different if I did what she did for Ishtar.” He said, after a long moment. “If I hid Lemons and Snips like she had.” Sena grinned slightly. “Nah. I saw how she looked last night. She was really happy to have Ishtar out like that. I think she would’ve lost Ishtar like I had. The fact that she still has Ishtar might be because of her dad, more than anything.”

Kabu chuckled. “You know her well.”

“We’ve been pen pals since I moved to Melemele from Lavaridge.” Sena grinned at him sheepishly. “She was some part of the reason why I went to Galar, aside from you, of course.”

“I see.” Kabu hummed, taking a sip of tea, and Sena gingerly swirled his microwaved Moo Moo Milk in his mug. “Today, we’ll be at the police station to hear from Officer Jenny. She has the whole case on her, so we’ll be able to get the answers we need.”

“That’s good.” Sena sighed.

“We’ll be with the Chairman.”

“Chairman Leon?” Sena spluttered, and Kabu raised an eyebrow at him. “After I just—I—”

“This _is _under his jurisdiction, you know.” Kabu sighed. “Sena, he is the Chairman of the League. His company built that Gym for Derbyton. It’s his right to know what’s going on in there.”

“I…” Sena deflated, and Kabu’s eyes softened on him. “I did my best to convince him we’re okay.”

Kabu hummed, cocking his head at him. 

“Apparently, Chairman Leon had signed my papers to move a week after I won the ranking tournament.” 

“What?” Kabu frowned. “So, who blocked you from moving in?”

“I… don’t know.” Sena said gingerly, and they fell quiet. 

Kabu sighed. “Maybe Officer Jenny may know something.” He said, and patted Sena’s hand. “Let’s finish off here and head off.”

“Right.” Sena nodded.

They finished their breakfast, and they washed up in companionable silence. Sena winced when his hand stung as he put the plates back, but when he checked his hand, there was nothing there. He frowned, but ignored it, getting their chores done. Soon, it was time for them to leave, and Sena put his team into their Pokéballs, tucking them away into the harness strapped to his side. Kabu put his Centiskorch into his Pokéball, and tucked it into his coat pocket. 

Kabu gestured for Sena to step outside first, and the blond nodded, opening the door—

And his eyes widened when he saw a _massive _crowd gathered in the street in front of his apartment. Kabu raised an eyebrow when he suddenly stopped, but also looked surprised when he looked out at the door. 

“What’s… going… on?” Sena said dazedly, as a red-faced, mousy-looking man stepped forward, nervously wringing his hands. “Um.”

“Leader Sena,” He said, “I-I’m Mayor Harry. I’m the Mayor of Derbyton.” 

“Mayor?” Sena echoed, but jumped when the man practically _scurried _up to him, holding his hands as he shook them hurriedly. 

“Oh, we have so much to thank you for!” he sighed happily, “You got rid of Rudy! You’re amazing!”

“I—” Sena looked at Kabu, who was frowning at the man. Sena bit his lip, and turned back to the Mayor. “Um. I’m sorry, I don’t get it.”

“Oh! It’s just that, well, Rudy has always been around for so long, running the whole town.” Harry said, flushing even more as Sena blinked at him blankly, still shaking his hands. “Well, he’s been an old friend who’s saved my hind more than a few times so I left him be, and, well, there hadn’t been much problems in the city when he was around but _phew _you would not _believe _how stifling he could get!” The man was rambling, and Sena felt his head spin as he leaned into Sena’s personal space. “And he even convinced all of us that letting you come in here was gonna ruin everything, but that’s not true at all! You’re _adorable! _You and the Gym will bring so much life back into Derbyton, I just know it!”

“That is _enough._” Kabu said, pulling Sena away from the man with a severe scowl on his face, and the blond blinked up at him. “_Mayor, _you say, yet you let some _ruffian _run the town as if it was his personal little playground, knowing fully you had all the power and resources to put a stop to his irresponsible actions.” 

“U-Uncle Kabu—” Sena jumped as he moved Sena behind him, glowering at Harry as he straightened up, looking dismayed that he’d been made to let Sena go. Kabu stared him down despite their suddenly apparent height difference. 

“A Mayor instills a righteous discipline in his community. He ensures safety and builds trust. Enforces justice, and prevents the pain of both Trainers and Pokémon from happening.” He said, almost snarling. “And you have failed to do all these things.”

Sena blinked at Kabu. 

“I have had _enough _of seeing my nephew so sad.” Kabu said. “Do _not _exacerbate this mess.”

“I… beg your pardon?” Harry blinked, and he frowned. “Leader Kabu, your jurisdiction is Motostoke! What could you possibly know about Derbyton?”

“I am not the one turning a blind eye to the needs of the masses.” Kabu said steadily, and Harry’s face turned into the same interesting shade of red that Rudy’s face turned when he was angry. 

“Turning a blind eye? I’ve been taking such good care of Derbyton, thank you!” He huffed, “Of course, we’re so far out of the way that not a lot of people come here, but we’re utterly _thrilled _to be part of the Gym Circuit again! It’ll breathe life back into the town!”

Sena jumped, and felt something swell in his chest as Harry continued to ramble.

“And the _sweetest _young man that Leader Sena is, why, he’s simply _adored _here, thank you!” He shouted at Kabu, who looked at him, unimpressed. “We’re happy to have him here! Derbyton is as charming as he is!”

Sena thought of the time he’d spent in Derbyton so far. The muted greys, muddied black and white awash with rainwater, and finally, something spiked in his chest—

Anger.

“We’re so thankful to have him!”

_It’s not fair._

Sena shook his head, pushing past Kabu to jab his finger into the man’s face.

“_I _come into this town, moving out alone for the first time in my _life _to the _least welcoming _community I’ve ever seen, because of what _you _let happen to it!” He shouted, and Kabu gaped at him as Sena stanced up in front of Harry. “I had to kick a _Pokémon smuggler _out of _my own Gym, _watch my best friend get beat with a Pokémon that’s suffering, while worrying about my _own _partners so far away from me!”

Kabu’s expression softened on him, and he nodded, stepping back.

“So take your crummy thanks back, Mayor Harry! I don’t want it!” He yelled in the man’s face. “I don’t owe you, or _everyone _anything else!” 

He whirled around, and grabbed Kabu’s hand.

“Now if you’ll excuse us,_ we’ll _fix the problem _you _caused.” Sena snapped, and proceeded to pull Kabu along through the crowd that quickly parted for him. 

Kabu could hear the crowd murmuring in awe as Sena stormed through the path, making a beeline for the police station. 

“Sena.” Kabu said when they were a ways away from the crowd, and Sena finally slowed down. The blond refused to look at him, but the man didn’t mind, smiling fondly as he stepped forward to ruffle Sena’s hair, pulling his nephew close to himself to feel him shaking. “That was a good outburst. I’m glad you got that out.” The Lavaridge dialect was back, and Kabu was grateful they could use it to converse privately. 

“I’m so angry, Uncle Kabu.” Sena replied. “I can’t believe how unbelievably _angry _I am.” He squeezed his fist against his chest, and Kabu sighed fondly. “_I hate it._”

“It’s an ugly feeling, yes. But it’s still a part of you.” Kabu said, patting his head. “As long as you get it out.”

“… Yeah. I suppose so.”

They walked in companionable silence until they reached the police station, and Kabu lit up when he saw a Warwick Yard Corviknight unit outside the station, grooming itself calmly while a Boltund slept at her feet. 

“Looks like Warwick Yard’s here too.” Kabu said, and Sena gingerly looked up. He smiled down at his nephew. “We’re in the thick of it now, Sena.” 

“I guess we are.” Sena smiled tiredly, and shook his head. “Okay. Let’s get in there.”

* * *

Leon was surprised to find that he’d arrived _early, _but Officer Jenny was quick to accommodate them, opening up a different meeting room that could fit all of them, including Kabu and Sena, whom she said were arriving soon. Leon could see a crowd gathering outside a flat when they arrived at Derbyton, and he hoped that Sena would be alright, at least. In the meantime, Officer Jenny caught them up to what happened the night before, based on Sena’s friend’s account.

“I _knew _that girl was out battling last night.” Robin mumbled, sighing exasperatedly, and Leon gave him a little smile. “Sorry, Mr. Chairman. My daughter has a habit of sticking her nose into things she shouldn’t. Sometimes I wonder if she got that from… never mind.” He shook his head, and Leon laughed kindly. 

“Raising a child sounds difficult.” He said. 

“Oh, definitely.” Robin shook his head. “She’s gone and followed in my footsteps as someone who’s far too invested in protecting the law, but I frankly don’t want her in this business.” 

“How come?” Leon asked. “She sounds like she admires you.”

“Well,” Robin sighed, “Warwick Yard has its… downsides.” He gave Leon a pointed look, and the younger man swallowed nervously. 

That was right—Robin had to be careful with meeting Leon, due to the strange circumstances surrounding the Rocket Controller incidents. _Someone _high up had released Elsie and Johnie after all, which meant that _someone _in Warwick Yard let that happen.

“I see.” Leon said quietly. 

“She’s got a nose for trouble, though.” Robin huffed. “I’ll give her that.”

“She sounds like a handful.” 

“Oh, more than.” Robin said, but he smiled at Leon. “But I think that’s the best part of raising a kid, Mr. Chairman.” He gestured at Leon. “Are you, uh, ever planning on any?”

“Oh, I…” Leon laughed nervously, feeling his cheeks burn. “I’d like to at least get married, first…”

“Right, right, of course.” Robin nodded. “To Leader Raihan, then? When he comes home?”

“Yes.” Leon smiled warmly. “I already know my answer, if he ever asks.”

“Have you?” Robin asked, and Leon blinked at him. “You know, _you _could ask _him._ None of that proprietary _royal _bull, I say, it’s the modern times. Commoners can propose.”

“I… well…” Leon laughed nervously. Oh, the detective had a sharp instinct, he thought. Not a lot of people considered the possibility that _Leon _would ask, though it was probably because of Raihan’s noble status, or his dragon typing. “I… it’s crossed my mind.”

Robin nodded. “Well, too late for that now, I suppose. Leader Raihan’s out of the region.” He said, and Leon nodded too, chuckling nervously. “It’s really just the waiting game.” 

“Mr. Chairman? Detective?” Officer Jenny asked, and the two men looked up to see her peering into the room. She smiled, nodding as she stepped aside, gesturing for someone to come in. Kabu walked in first, nodding at Leon sternly, and Leon nodded back at him. Sena followed suit after him, and Leon’s expression softened on him. Uncle and nephew sat down across Leon and Robin, and Officer Jenny stood at the head of the table. “Alright, gentlemen?” She asked, and Leon nodded at her. 

“Good morning.” Kabu greeted politely with a nod, and Sena gave her a little bow. 

“Good morning.” Officer Jenny beamed at them, and her expression hardened. “Alright. We’ve got some explaining to do.” She huffed, and sat down. “First things first. Rudy. I’ve taken him into custody to finally get him behind bars for a whole bunch of charges, thanks, Detective.”

Robin nodded once. “Yesterday, I was wondering why my Emi asked me to identify this man like some perp. Later that night, Leader Kabu asked me to help make the warrant for his arrest.”

“What were the charges?” Leon asked. 

“Oh, a whole lot.” Officer Jenny scowled. “Though, of course, the most urgent one involves Leader Sena’s discovery the night before.” She said. “We’ve got him and 14 other people in custody last night for PSEA violations, and the hosting of illegal battling rings.”

“That’s good.” Kabu nodded. 

“Thank you, Leader Kabu.” Officer Jenny gave him a curt nod. “I suppose I owe you all an explanation about Mr. Rudy.”

“We’d really appreciate it.” Leon nodded. 

“Right.” Officer Jenny huffed, “Mr. Rudy has been a resident of Derbyton for quite some time now, and apparently he’s been running the whole illegal trade for about as long as Dexit has been put into effect.” 

“One would wonder if the reason he has the smuggling ring in the first place is _because _Dexit is in place.” Robin murmured, and Officer Jenny nodded.

“That’s exactly it.” She said. “Apparently, because of Dexit, smuggling and illegal battling has been on the rise. It’s been making Mr. Rudy and his lackeys millions per year, and it’s such a ludicrous job that a lot of residents in Derbyton are either being coerced into silence, or bribed into it.” Officer Jenny shook her head. “As you can probably tell, Derbyton isn’t exactly the most populated city on this side of Galar, so there’s not a lot of opportunities for people here to make a living.”

“So they make do.” Sena said quietly, and Leon looked at him as he sat up a little straighter. “I think… I think I get it.”

Kabu huffed, smiling slightly at his nephew. 

“Officer Jenny, this morning, I met the Mayor.” He said, and she pulled a face. “Looks like you know him.”

“_Know_ him.” She scowled. “I could never get enough proof that he’s been rigging the elections for that position ever since he got it. I _know _he and Rudy are helping each other out, but until I get a warrant for him, I can’t throw him behind bars.”

“Let me see if I can’t pull anything up in Warwick Yard HQ.” Robin nodded, and Officer Jenny blinked at him. “All the polling results get sent in to Wyndon, and Warwick Yard will have access to all of them. I’ll go look for something.” Leon could see the detective’s hand clenched into a tight fist under the table, and took a deep breath. Robin was as mad as they all were about this, it seemed. 

“I could have a look into whatever kind of case I can file against him.” Leon offered, and Sena blinked at him. “His negligence caused severe damage to a Gym run by the League. I will _not _stand for this, as Chairman.” He met Sena’s gaze, and gave the blond a little grin. “And besides, I think this is just the right argument for abolishing Dexit, too, don’t you agree?”

“Oh!” Officer Jenny lit up, as Sena smiled back at Leon, his eyes growing watery. “Mr. Chairman, you want to abolish Dexit?”

“Yes.” Leon nodded, and turned to her. “So we can be rid of this problem altogether,” he nodded at Sena. “And so trainers like Leader Sena here can be reunited with their partners, as they should be.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Officer Jenny sighed happily, nodding. “I never like it when I have to confiscate people’s Pokémon. It doesn’t _feel right._”

“I know what you mean.” Robin murmured, looking down at the table. He took a shaky breath, and shook his head. “Thank you for the help, Officer Jenny. If it’s alright, please send me a copy of your case against the smugglers. I’ll help you compile it and we’ll bring it up to the Wyndon Arbitration Court where Rudy can’t sway them.”

“Hopefully.” Kabu said, and Robin nodded.

“_Hopefully._” 

“Got it.” Officer Jenny nodded sternly, and she nodded at the trainers at the table. “Mr. Chairman, if you could find a case to file, please send it over to us. We’ll sort it out.”

“Of course.” Leon nodded, and they all stood up. “We’ll take our leave. I’d like to discuss League matters with Leader Kabu and Leader Sena.” 

The two police officers nodded, and strode out of the meeting room. Leon looked at the two men with him, and gave them an apologetic little smile. “Would it be alright if we went elsewhere?” 

“That would be for the best, I think.” Kabu nodded, and patted Sena’s back. “Shall we?”

Sena nodded, getting up. 

“I have some things I’d like to talk about too, Mr. Chairman.” He said, and Leon nodded. 

“Alright. Kabu, I hope you don’t mind if we take a Flying Taxi?” Leon asked, and a thin line appeared between Kabu’s eyebrows. Sena suddenly snorted, and Leon lit up to see the blond finally cheering up, snickering into his fist as Kabu made a show of huffing. 

“If we must.” He said, and Leon nodded. 

“I’ll be getting two Flying Taxis, since Ricki’s with me. She’s just waiting outside in the lobby for us.” Leon winked at Sena, who grinned a little brighter. “You don’t have to hide around your nephew, right?”

“Mr. Chairman, I would never.” Kabu said stiffly, and Sena gave Leon a sunny grin. The sight of it made relief surge in Leon’s chest. 

Sena was strong, he thought. He’ll make it through this. 

“I’ll take care of my old man, Mr. Chairman.” He said. “Let’s head out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is hardly relevant but here's the names of detective robin's pokemon:  
\- marian (corviknight): a maid marian reference  
\- (little) john (boltund): robin hood's right hand man, little john!


	44. A Rough Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Have a successful journey, Raihan. We’re cheering you on.”

Sena was delighted when they came over to Locksley, stopping at Café Violette. Kabu raised an eyebrow at the entrance as they stepped in, and Ricki had stars in her eyes as she looked at the beautiful little Kalosian-style café, taking a photo of the lovely decorations they had hanging around. 

“Leah.” Leon greeted, and the blonde lit up at the small crowd he brought with him. “We might need a little more room.”

“I’ve got just the spot.” She smiled, and gestured at the menu above her. “But first, we should get what everyone would like.”

The orders were settled quickly enough—Sena and Ricki rather gleefully choosing a Torchic Rice over Omelet for a very confused Kabu (“Isn’t that just omurice?”)—and they were guided upstairs to a beautiful, elegant room by Ace. The Lucario happily received scratches under his chin from Sena, before hurrying away when a little Grookey with a red beret called for him. The four of them settled down with happy sighs, and Leon gave Sena a little smile. 

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” He asked, and Sena sat up a little straighter.

“Mr. Chairman, I’d like to be personally involved with rebuilding Derbyton Gym.” He said, and Leon smiled fondly at that. “And… and that I’d prefer the citizens of Derbyton to build it.”

“Sounds about right.” Leon nodded. “It should be a good jumpstart for the economy.” 

“And another thing.” He said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I just wanted you to know that I’m going to accept Lord Narcissus’s offer to sponsor me.”

“_What?_” Leon blinked at him, and Sena met his gaze evenly. “Wait—Lord Narcissus told me you _already _accepted.”

It was Sena’s turn to look confused, and he and Kabu shared a look. Ricki coughed delicately. 

“According to League records, you’re _already _being sponsored by Magiflora Mining.” She said, and Sena gaped at her. “Lord Narcissus had you registered as theirs, and everything, which was why the Boss and I thought you were already in Derbyton.” 

“Which was why I wanted to talk to you, I wanted to know more about that.” Leon shook his head. “But I guess I already know the answer. I can’t believe this…”

“You don’t think it was Lord Narcissus’s influence that blocked Sena’s move to Derbyton, do you?” Kabu asked, and Leon met his gaze, frowning.

“It’s not unlikely.” He said, and Kabu’s frown deepened as he crossed his arms, deep in thought. “Though the question remains—why?”

“Because the Gym was being used as an illegal battling ring. And a place to smuggle Pokémon.” Sena said, and Leon nodded. “They could’ve been using the time to extract as many as they could from the spot before I eventually messed it up.”

“Oh!” Ricki gasped softly. “Then it can’t be a coincidence that Lord Narcissus is the principal author of Dexit, is it?”

“He is?” Sena blinked, and Leon nodded gravely. 

“I don’t like this.” He said darkly, and Kabu nodded. 

“Neither do I.” Kabu agreed, crossing his arms. “There must be some way…”

Ricki bit her lip, watching her employer thinking deeply, and she thought of Emmy. 

Emmy, who inexplicably knew about what happened the night before. Emmy, who, for _some reason, _was at the Derbyton Gym the night before, and _probably _knew Sena on a personal level. 

_Just who was she, really?_ She wondered, as Sena sat up straighter. 

“I’ll do it.” He said, and the other two men looked at him. “I’ll accept his sponsorship deal, and I’ll spy on him for you.”

“Spy on him?” Leon hissed, as Ricki blinked in surprise. “_Spy _on—Sena, what do you—”

“If Lord Narcissus is doing some shady shit in Derbyton, I’m the only person trustworthy enough to tell you about them.” Sena said determinedly. “Dealing with Team Rocket’s shit these past few days has really pissed me off.” He grumbled. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make sure Dexit gets repealed.”

Leon blinked at him, and smiled slowly. “Thank you, Sena.”

Sena gave him a little grin. “I’ve got your back, Mr. Chairman.”

Ricki sighed in relief, and looked at her phone, where she’d received a message from Emmy. 

_Lord Narcissus looks real pissed about what happened in Derbyton today. If you’ve got the time, let’s grab a drink so I can drown out my sorrows. btw, could you get hold of Leader Sena? He wants to schedule a meeting with him, but can’t be bothered to haul his ass to Derbyton himself. I’ll buy you the first round later tonight._

Ricki smiled slightly, and she looked at Sena. 

“Leader Sena,” she began, and the blond blinked at her. “Would it be alright if you came with us back to Wyndon?” She asked, and Leon cocked his head at her. 

“Ricki?” He asked.

“One of Lord Narcissus’s assistants told me that he wants to see you.” She said. “I think now’s as good a time as any to meet with him, don’t you think?”

“Oh!” Leon lit up, as Sena stood up, eyes wide. “Ricki, that’s fantastic! Sena, you’ll have to go to Magiflora Mining yourself, though.” 

“That’s fine with me.” Sena nodded determinedly. “Thanks, Miss Ricki.”

“Don’t mention it.” She smiled, and peered back down at her phone as their food arrived.

_yeeee he’s coming over today he said_

_Whoa nice! Thanks so much. I owe you big time._

Ricki gently squeezed her phone, and pressed it against her heart. 

She needed to get to the bottom of this, for her sanity’s sake.

* * *

“Where’s Raihan?” Steven wondered out loud, looking around the hotel lobby as he stood next to his singular suitcase, and the other two that Wallace insisted they brought along. 

(To be fair to his husband, the largest suitcase was filled with presents for everyone back at home, with about half of them for Cobalt alone. The medium-sized suitcase next to it… well, Wallace was a man who took great pride in his appearance, and Steven respected that.) 

He pouted to himself, feeling oddly bereft as he tapped his and Wallace’s phones against his chin, watching Cynthia and Wallace handle checking out of the hotel. It was no small coincidence they’d all stayed in the same hotel in Jubilife City, and an even bigger coincidence that they were all heading out on the same day, after the Jubilife City Pokémon Contest that Wallace had been invited to. Later that day, Steven and Wallace would arrive at a resort near the Lake of Life dig site, Cynthia would head back to her manor, and Raihan would head off on his journey… _again. _

Steven finally spotted Raihan, and he lit up, lifting his hand to wave at the younger man, but he stopped himself when he realised Raihan was on the phone, talking to someone with a serious expression on his face. He deflated, lowering his hand as he cocked his head at the dragon. 

“Wonder who he’s calling.” He mumbled, but decided to hang back, waiting for him to finish his call.

* * *

Raihan could see Steven looking at him meaningfully from across the lobby, but he _really _couldn’t focus right now. He could feel his skin growing clammy, and there was a burning heat searing through his veins, raging with a _vengeance _that threatened to tear him apart, driving him mad. 

_Fuck, _his rut had come. Why couldn’t it have come a little later, when Raihan was alone?

“_Raihan?_” The voice on his phone asked. “_You okay?_”

“I’m—_I’m fine._” He growled, and he heard a whistle on the other side of the phone. “Sorry. You know how it’s like, Emi.”

“_I do._” She said. “_Anyway, that’s all I got so far on Magiflora. It seems they really _did _block off Leader Sena’s entry into Derbyton, and we’ve proven that there really was a smuggling ring in there, just like you suspected._” 

“_Fuck._” Raihan snarled, “Where was it? We kept looking and looking, how the hell did we not find it?”

“_It was the Gym._” Emi said calmly, and like a bucket of cold water poured over him, Raihan felt a chill go down his spine. The Gym. 

Macro Cosmos—_Leon’s_—turf_._

“_They hid it all in the Gym. Does the name Rudy ring a bell to you?_”

“_Hnngh._” Raihan growled intelligently, shuddering as his rut came burning back, stealing all coherent thoughts from his mind. “I… I think so? I’m not—” he growled again, and Emi hummed on the other side in concern. “Emi, I think we may need to call each other later when I can think properly.”

“_I slept at ass o’clock last night for this, asshole._” Emi deadpanned, but Raihan was used to her jabs like this. “_But you sound really messed up. You should take a minute._”

“Can’t,” Raihan bit out. “We’re checking out of the hotel.”

“_Bummer._” Emi huffed. “_And I’m grounded in Locksley._”

“You are _not._” Raihan scoffed, and he heard her snicker on the other side. He grinned a little at that, feeling some semblance of control returning to him. “Knowing you, you snuck out of home. Probably bribed the staff or something—” He choked back a snarl, but Emi didn’t seem to notice as she laughed at what he said. 

“_It was the twins, actually, but you’re right._” She said. “_Fine. I’ll call back later if I haven’t collapsed at my desk or something._” 

“Take care of yourself.” Raihan grumbled.

“_You too._” She said, and hung up. Raihan took a shaky breath, and jumped when a Pokéball deployed from his bag. Gladiolus straightened up, and looked at Raihan expectantly, spreading his arms. 

“Aw, bud.” Raihan laughed softly, leaning against Gladiolus heavily, and the Duraludon cooed softly. Raihan sighed in relief as the coolness of his old friend’s steel coat helped his rut abate somewhat, and he hugged Gladiolus gingerly, shuddering as his rut reduced to a light prickling under his skin. He heard Steven hurry over to him, and he gave the man a tired little grin as Steven gently pulled him away from Gladiolus.

“Oh, are you alright?” Steven asked, and Raihan blinked down at him in mild confusion.

Steven… was _pretty tiny, _wasn’t he?

Raihan felt his dragon blood surge inside him, reacting to something he couldn’t pinpoint, and he jolted, jerking forward towards Steven. The older man jumped, and quickly caught Raihan, easily lifting him despite their size difference, and Raihan blinked confusedly, his eyes out of focus as Steven bodily maneuvered him to the couches next to where he’d parked their luggage bags. 

“Wh…” Raihan slurred as Steven set him down on the couch. He watched Gladiolus hobble over after them, concern clear on the Duraludon’s face. Raihan squinted at Steven, who held his hand over Raihan’s forehead—and hesitated. “Steven?”

“Raihan, I…” The silver-haired man peered off to the side. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what your temperature is.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked, but jumped when he felt a surprisingly cool hand on his forehead. 

(Come to think of it, Steven’s hand had felt like nothing. A lukewarm sort of feeling, as if he’d pressed an inanimate object to his forehead…)

“He’s burning up.” Cynthia’s voice said from beyond what Raihan could see, and Raihan raised his hand, shaking his head. “Raihan—”

“Rut.” He said hoarsely, looking up to finally see Cynthia standing behind the couch backrest, her eyes wide at him. “Sorry, I better get going.”

“Does he need the hospital?” Wallace asked, a little further away behind Cynthia, and the blonde shook her head, walking around the couch to look at Raihan, frowning. 

“Where’s your GWeez?” She asked, and Raihan shook his head.

“Don’t… wanna… waste it.” He bit out, “I should just… get going. I’ll weather it on the road.”

Steven and Wallace shared nervous looks, but Cynthia nodded, sighing. 

“Got it.” She nodded. “You’re still pretty cognisant, so I think you’ll be able to make it at least onto the national road. You’d better set up camp soon after that.”

“Right.” Raihan groaned, and slowly got up onto his feet. He looked at the little group of ex-Champions with him, and grinned a little when he saw Steven holding Gladiolus’s hand gingerly. “Sorry Gladiolus couldn’t hang.” He said, and Steven gave him an uneasy little smile.

“Maybe next time.” He nodded, and Raihan could see how reluctant he was to let go. He laughed softly, shaking his head as he leant on Gladiolus. 

“Come visit Sinnoh again,” Cynthia smiled, “I’m sure we’ll be able to bump into Raihan along the way.” 

“I suppose so.” Steven chuckled, and gave Gladiolus a little wave. “Stay beautiful, Gladiolus.”

The Duraludon gave him a soft coo, and Raihan laughed softly, burying his face into the smooth, mercifully cool metal of Gladiolus’s steel coat. 

“Sorry you had to see me off like this.” Raihan said, wincing as he felt his dragon blood roar with rage under his skin. “I—I—_fuck,_” He groaned, gripping Gladiolus’s arm, and the Duraludon whined in worry. “I’m okay.” He mumbled. 

“You really don’t look like you’re in any condition to travel.” Wallace frowned. 

“No, I’m—I’m good. I need to be hit with a—with an _Ice Beam_ or something.” Raihan grumbled, shaking his head. 

“Don’t you have suppressants, or something?” Steven asked, looking at Cynthia. “That GWeez, maybe we could use it?”

“I don’t—don’t wanna waste it.” Raihan said, straightening up as best as he could, and Wallace huffed.

“Suit yourself.” He said, and the sound of a Pokéball deploying made them all jump. Heads turned towards them in shock as Eurydice emerged from her Pokéball, affectionately coiling around her trainer as she peered at Raihan. “Eurydice, Blizzard. And gently, please.”

“_Wallace?_” Steven gasped, as the Milotic leaned over towards Raihan—

And gently pecked him on the forehead, leaving a little patch of ice on his skin, and a dusting of frost on his headband. Raihan blinked in alarm as Eurydice reared back, nuzzling Wallace’s cheek as he gave Raihan a little smirk. 

“How’s that?” he asked, and Raihan had to admit—he _was _feeling a little cooler than before. His rut had abated somewhat, and he grinned a little, straightening up. 

“I feel… way much better, actually.” He said, and Cynthia and Steven gaped at him. “It’s… _wow. _Thanks, Wallace.”

“It was nothing.” Wallace huffed, and pressed a kiss to Eurydice’s snout, before putting her back into her Pokéball, grinning as he pressed it against his lips. “I trust you’ll be well enough to go on your way, now.” 

“Yeah, I am.” Raihan grinned, and Cynthia heaved a sigh of relief, as Steven lit up. “Thank you so much, I mean it.”

“Well, we shouldn’t dally.” Cynthia said, peering at the crowd around them, which had begun taking out phones to take photos of them. “Looks like we’ve been recognised.”

“Our car is waiting outside.” Wallace said, taking his phone gently from Steven’s hands. He peered at his screen, and nodded. “We have to get going now, as well.”

“I see.” Cynthia nodded, and the husbands gave the two of them sweet smiles.

“We’ll be back soon.” Steven said, and Wallace raised an eyebrow at him. Steven’s cheeks turned pink, and he laughed nervously. “Well, as soon as we can, maybe.”

“He still owes me a Sinnoh villa.” Wallace chuckled, and Steven’s cheeks turned red. “Well, we’ll be off. Have a successful journey, Raihan. We’re cheering you on.”

“Thanks.” Raihan gave them a sunny grin, and the husbands waved them goodbye before they strode to the door. Raihan took a deep breath, and turned to Cynthia. “Just the two of us again.” He said, and she smiled back at him. 

“Yeah.” She looped her arm around the back of his neck. “I’ll walk you to the outskirts of the city, at least.”

“Sure thing.” Raihan grinned, picking up his own bag, and together, they walked out of the hotel. They spotted the Stones getting into an SUV together, and Raihan and Cynthia smiled as it drove away, disappearing into the horizon. 

They turned to walk in the opposite direction of the car, and Raihan could see the exit into the national road not too far away from them, now. A few trainers were also making their way towards the paved road that led onward to Raihan’s first Gym—and the last, for many of the trainers in the Sinnoh region. 

Raihan and Cynthia walked in companionable silence, and the dragon squirmed slightly. Cynthia chuckled a little at that, and he huffed.

“Hey, Cynthia?” He asked.

“Hm?” The blonde hummed softly. 

“I… I wanna tell you something.” He said, and she nodded. “Earlier in the hotel, Steven tried to feel my temperature.” 

Cynthia’s smile slid off her face, and Raihan looked up at her worriedly. 

“He couldn’t tell what my temperature was, even though I could feel it myself.” He continued. “He was also way smaller than I was, but he carried me like I weighed nothing to the couch. What’s… what’s going on?” He asked. “My dragon blood reacted to him.”

“It did?” Cynthia breathed, and Raihan frowned deeper.

“Do you know where they’re going?” He asked as they passed the first few trees of the route. 

“They’re heading to a resort near the Lake of Life dig spot.” She said. Raihan blinked at her owlishly, and Cynthia sighed. “Come to think of it, we never got to talk about that.” She hummed, and Raihan cocked his head. “You see, Steven actually wanted to talk to us about something in private, but we never really found the time.”

“Is it something he can’t tell Wallace?” Raihan asked, ducking out from under Cynthia’s arm, and the blonde’s expression fell. “That doesn’t make sense, they’re _married._”

“It was something… Steven didn’t want Wallace to know.” She said softly, and Raihan frowned, his eyes thinning into draconic slits as Eurydice’s light Blizzard on him began to dissipate. 

“But they’re _husbands. _You don’t hide things from your spouse.” He said, a low rumble in his voice, but Cynthia shook her head, squeezing his wrist as she pulled him along to walk, wary of the eyes on them as they moved. “_Cynthia._” He growled, and Cynthia shuddered involuntarily.

“Raihan,” She pulled him close, wrapping her arm around the back of his neck again to pull him close enough to hear as she lowered her voice. “_Steven suspects he has a secondary typing._”

That shocked Raihan into clarity. 

“Secondary… typing?” Raihan blinked, as Cynthia let him go. “He has a secondary typing, too?”

“We’re not sure.” Cynthia shook her head. “He can’t even pinpoint the type, but he says he’s been experiencing strange things, and wanted to make sure.”

“Why here?” Raihan asked, “If he wanted to learn about secondary typing, couldn’t he ask Sonia?” 

“Because Wallace would find out.” Cynthia said, and Raihan saw red cut through his vision. The dragon in his blood broke free of its chains and growled as he moved away from her, resolutely shaking his head. 

“_He has the right to know._” He snarled angrily, and the blonde bit her lip, reaching out for him. Raihan shook his head angrily, pulling away from her hand, and the hurt expression on Cynthia’s face brought some semblance of regret to Raihan, but he pressed on. “He _married _Wallace. _You don’t hide things from your spouse_.”

“Raihan.” Cynthia winced, shaking her head as she held her hands up placatingly, sensing the dragon that had reared its head towards her, snarling and out for blood. “You have to understand. Even as spouses, there will be spaces between you and your partner. There are times when you will not be able to meet, and it’s alright to not know everything.” 

She bit her lip, as Raihan’s eyes thinned into slits dangerously. Cynthia slowly began to reach for Bellona’s Pokéball in her clutch—_just in case._

“Steven has his reasons for keeping Wallace in the dark, and we have to respect his decision.” She said, “It’s for Wallace and Cobalt’s sakes.”

“_He’s lying to them,_ Cynthia.” Raihan shot back. “What kind of a husband and father does that make Steven?” 

His father’s visage flashed across his mind, his final promise echoing in Raihan’s head.

_“We’ll be back from Kalos tomorrow. I’ll bring you a pretty little gift, too, I promise.”_

Raihan squeezed his eyes shut. 

“One who loves his family very much, Raihan.” Cynthia snapped, and Raihan’s eyes shot open as he glowered at her. “_Neither_ of us have the _right _to tell Steven how he should take care of his own family, and I actually _understand _why he’d want to hide this from Wallace!”

“Why, because it’s such a shameful thing to be secondary typed?” Raihan shot back, the dragon’s rage bubbling in his veins. “That Steven should hide it from the rest of the world, because we’re _freaks_ who’re _just like Pokémon?_”

Cynthia reared back like she’d been slapped with the force of Raihan’s words, as Raihan panted heavily, his outburst weighing on his mind. 

“Is that what you think of us, too?” He asked. His voice quivered with emotion. “When you yourself told me there’s nothing wrong with my typing?”

“That’s not how I feel about you at all!” Cynthia shook her head. “Raihan, you’re not being yourself, your rut’s not letting you think straight—”

“I _am _a dragon, Cynthia, _this is what I am!_”

“You’re a Normal-type too!” She shouted back at him, and they fell quiet, as Raihan blinked at her owlishly. The blonde looked like she was holding herself back from throttling him, frustration flashing in her eyes as her hands balled into fists next to her. Cynthia took a shaky breath, shaking her head. “You’re Normal-type too.” Cynthia said again, more faintly. “First and foremost. Just like the rest of mankind.”

“I…” Raihan watched her sink to the grass with a tired sigh. 

“Put yourself in Steven’s shoes.” Cynthia said quietly. “You thought you were just any regular person for most of your life. Sometimes, strange things happen to you, but it’s nothing _too _serious, surely? Maybe it’s easier if you just ignored it, maybe it was a universal experience that no one acknowledged.” 

Cynthia met his gaze, and Raihan felt a pang of shame in his chest.

“You get married to the love of your life. You have a son, and you love him more than anything in the world.” She continued, “And then you find out… maybe you’re not as normal as you thought you were.”

Raihan stayed quiet, unsure of what to say. 

“And suddenly, you realise that there has always been a reason for all the strange things in your life. Suddenly, you realise that things that normally don’t kill other people could kill you in an instant.” 

Raihan thought of his fairy-type hypersensitivity. The weakened resistance to cold temperatures, and the many, _many _brushes he’d had with near-hypothermic death. 

“You could die at any minute and you wouldn’t know why. Or how. Or how to stop it.” Cynthia sniffled, and Raihan dropped to his knees in front of her, feeling his heart shatter as her voice seemed to crackle at the edges. “You think about your spouse. Your _son, _and you think to yourself—what if he was like you? What if he, too, would die to the things that could kill you, and what then?”

Raihan shut his eyes, and thought of Leon. 

_What then?_

“Do you understand now?” Cynthia asked, lifting her head to smile at Raihan past her tears. Raihan could feel the shards of his heart digging into his throat with every breath he took. “Steven’s _terrified _of what could happen to him, to Cobalt, to _Wallace, _who they’d be leaving behind.” Raihan felt his own eyes prickling as she shook her head, reaching into her clutch to grab a handkerchief, dabbing at her eyes delicately.

“What if it isn’t even _real?_” She laughed softly. “What if after all this anxiety and fear, the secondary typing thing wasn’t even true?” Cynthia asked. “What would Steven gain, telling Wallace all this now, if it was just gonna hurt him? Their family? Could you imagine just what Steven is feeling?”

“I…” Raihan shook his head. “I can’t imagine.”

“He didn’t grow up with it like you did.” Cynthia reminded him, and Raihan pursed his lips. “Steven is my friend. I know him, he’s the type to sort this whole thing out in his head first, before relying on others for help.” She shut her eyes with a tired sigh. “He’s terrified Wallace more than enough for a lifetime, so I know he’ll want to make sure, first.”

Raihan sighed, and his hand balled into a fist in the grass. 

“There’s got to be a way to get rid of this.” He muttered, and Cynthia smiled at him sadly. “Secondary typing is unsustainable.”

“You don’t know that yet.” She said, shaking her head. “For now, just concentrate on the Gym Circuit. I’ll help Professor Rowan and Riley find the Lake of Life.”

“… Okay.” Raihan said quietly, and she nodded, shakily getting up onto her feet. 

“I don’t blame you if you want to get rid of it,” she said, “But I want to believe there’s a reason why you have your gift.” Cynthia gave him a sad little smile. “And I want to believe that maybe someday, we can all find out why Arceus loved you so much to bless you with it.”

“I’ll see you around, Cynthia.” Raihan said, and the blonde sighed, nodding. 

“Take care, Raihan. Have a safe rut.”

“I will.” He said, and watched her leave. Raihan sighed as Cynthia’s back disappeared into the horizon, and he pulled himself up onto his feet, dragging himself a little further into the forest, where he knew he wouldn’t be disturbed.

He was unmindful of Janus, who quietly listened to him and Cynthia argue as he sat on a tree branch out of view. The Swablu turned to the hazy figure next to him.

_Your child is most ungrateful for your gift, Exalted._

The shimmering heat of the light beside him didn’t seem to react.

_May your punishment be swift, and your mercy endless. _Janus bowed at it respectfully._ Hallowed shall thy be._

A presence passed over his head, and the Swablu disappeared in a flash, Teleporting back into his Pokéball, nestled against the dragon’s burning body. 

_May Arceus’s mercy shine upon you, impudent child,_ he thought, as he settled down to sleep.


	45. The Burning Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the five years that Raihan knew he had a secondary typing, his ruts had developed from an enigma he couldn’t understand, to a routine he learned to outsmart as time went by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you might wanna read [the meaning of love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23612737) for maximum impact, maybe??? who knows.
> 
> just a refresher for anyone who needs it, here's raihan's team:  
\- gladiolus the duraludon  
\- i don't need to tell you who darude is  
\- gooms the goodra  
\- gibble the gible (give it time it'll get less confusing)  
\- janus the swablu
> 
> happy crown tundra release day!! i've completed raihan's team ingame, finally!

Raihan’s hands were shaking as he quickly set up the tent he and Cynthia bought during his earlier days in Sinnoh. His team hurried around the campsite, rushing to set up a perimeter that would guarantee his privacy. Gladiolus built a wall of stones around the campsite, giving it a wide berth, as Gooms dropped Sludge Bombs at the foot of the stone wall. Darude flew around the area, surveying potential spots where he could roost for the time being, to watch over Raihan as he suffered through his rut. 

Gibble sat down next to a dimly lit fire, blinking up at the dragons busy protecting their trainer. Next to her, Janus was grooming himself, fluffing up his feathers with a haughtiness she had grown used to seeing on him. 

She watched as Raihan hobbled into his tent, without so much as a hug and a kiss, and pouted to herself. Gibble got up on her feet, and Janus barely looked up. Gooms scurried over to them and gently sat Gibble back down. 

“But I wanna kiss from Daddy!” She protested, but Gooms shook her head, sighing exasperatedly as she patted Gibble’s head.

“He’s… sick, right now.” She said, after a moment’s consideration, and gave Janus an uneasy look. “I’ll be with you in a minute, okay? We’re just setting up the perimeter for tonight.”

“Pewi… meter?” Gibble cocked her head, and Gooms laughed softly, shaking her head.

“The area around our campsite.” She explained, and turned to leave.

“But big sis!” Gibble protested, getting up again, “I’m hungry!”

“Be a bit more patient.” Gladiolus said, and Gibble jumped when the Duraludon picked her up, looking down at her with kind eyes. “Can you do that, Gibble? Raihan needs you to be a good girl right now, while we protect him until his rut’s over.”

“Protect him?” Gibble asked. “Gladdie, is Daddy in trouble? Is he sick?”

Gladiolus looked at Janus, who was still resolutely ignoring them, and sighed. “No, he is not.” He said, and set Gibble down on the ground next to the flickering fire. Gladiolus gingerly waved his hand at the fire, and Gibble blinked at him. “You see, Gibble, Raihan’s… not like other humans.”

“Not like Miss Cynthia?” Gibble cocked her head, and Gladiolus nodded, sighing in relief when Gooms came back, holding a fan with a Magikarp design on it. She gave him a sweet smile, and settled down to fan the flames into a hotter blaze. 

“No, not like Miss Cynthia.” Gladiolus said, and chuckled when Gibble lit up, scurrying over to sit between Gooms and Gladiolus. “He’s very special, as I’m sure you know.”

“Yeah! Daddy’s the best, he’s amazing!” Gibble cooed, “He’s a dragon, just like us!” 

“Yes.” Gladiolus nodded, and shut his eyes. Gooms looked at him worriedly, and reached out to touch his hand with her paw. 

“He’ll be alright.” She said, and Gibble looked up at her. 

“I hope so.” He replied, and Gooms nodded, getting up again to head to the side of the camp. Gibble watched her go, and peered up at Gladiolus. “You see, a few times a year, Raihan gets… a little… very sick.”

Janus snorted at that, finally reacting to their conversation, and Gladiolus looked at the Swablu witheringly. The harmonious sound of Darude’s wings buzzing overhead caught their attention, and the Duraludon looked up to see the Flygon drop down into the campsite with a heavy sigh. 

“Perimeter clear.” He said, and caught himself scowling, pulling a grin on his face when Gibble looked at him worriedly. “Hey, squirt. Sorry if I startled you.”

“I found the Pokéfood!” Gooms called. “Darude, could you help?”

“Coming!” He called, and scoffed at Janus. “It’d be nice if _someone _helped, though.”

He kicked off the ground, throwing dirt at Janus, who spluttered in outrage as his pristine white fluff was covered with the offending dirt. 

“I will _not _be coerced by _pedestrian _jabs such as these!” Janus squawked, shooting up into the air with an angry glower at Darude, but the Flygon simply blew him a raspberry. He waved his tail at him mockingly, and snickered as he yanked it back before Janus could bite at it. 

“You _are _rising to it, though.” Gladiolus mumbled, and Gibble got up, looking up at Janus as he shook the dirt off with an indignant huff. 

“Why do you talk funny, Janus?” Gibble asked, cocking her head, and the Swablu looked down at her, alarmed. “You always choose such funny words!” She giggled, reaching up for his fluff. Janus looked at her witheringly and flew higher to keep his feathers out of her reach. Gibble deflated at that, and wiggled her arms again. “Are you trying to talk like Gladdie? You’re still a baby, like me! So fluffy!” 

“Little child, I am a _messenger _of _Arceus _Itself! I am _not _a mere _child, _I am but Arceus’s humble servant, on a most crucial mission!” Janus huffed, “However many times shall I have to tell you that?”

“But you sound so _weird!_” Gibble complained. “Weirdo, weirdo, weirdo!”

Janus looked at Gladiolus pleadingly, and the Duraludon nodded once. 

“She has a point.” He said simply, and Janus spluttered again. 

“I was sent here on a mission by Arceus, to watch over Its dragonborn!” He said, and Gibble looked up at Gladiolus confusedly. 

“He said that Arceus sent him to take care of Raihan.” He explained, and the Gible gasped.

“Then why won’t you make him feel better?” Gibble demanded, angrily jumping up and down in place. Janus jolted, jerking away from her as the little Gible continued to fume. She began to glow with the draconic light of Outrage, and the adult dragons jumped in alarm. “_Make him feel better!_”

“Gibble, calm down!” Gladiolus said, and Gooms hurried over, scooping Gibble up into her arms into a hug. “Quiet down, baby, please! Don’t get angry!”

“I’ve got you some Pokéfood!” Darude volunteered, as Gibble began to cry in Gooms’s arms, cuddling close to her chest. 

Gladiolus sighed, shaking his head as Janus seemed to deflate, settling down on the ground with a helpless little breath. 

“He is most ungrateful for such a gracious gift to him.” Janus huffed. “If anything, he very much deserves Arceus’s wrath.”

“Raihan didn’t ask to be a dragon, Janus.” Gladiolus said, and the Swablu clicked his beak shut, looking at the Duraludon witheringly as he peered at him. Janus swallowed nervously at the sight of steely, resolute _disappointment _sent his way, and he couldn’t help but tear his gaze away from the old Pokémon, feeling oddly ashamed of himself. “Janus, please look at me.”

“I shall follow no request from inferior beings.” He replied haughtily, and Gladiolus peered at Gooms, who huffed, sticking her bottom lip out. Janus let out an undignified squawk when Gooms’s tail reached over to him, soaking him with her goo. “Wh-wh—_what? _I say, let me go!”

“Look at me.” Gladiolus said, as Gooms handed the sniffling Gibble over to Darude, who immediately looked panicked as he uneasily held the baby Pokémon in his arms. Gooms turned Janus to face Gladiolus, who looked down at him. 

Janus winced, expecting rage from the towering dragon over him, but he jumped when all he saw was that same disappointment in the great creature’s golden eyes. 

“Gooms, Darude and I have loved Raihan all our lives.” He said, “From his childhood, we’ve protected him, obeyed his commands without question, and with full trust. While I understand that you must feel the same way with Arceus, what would you feel, if Arceus was degraded like that in front of you?”

“Its greatness cannot be degraded, I’ll have you know!” Janus said, and Gladiolus shook his head. 

“Let’s try again.” He said gently. “Do you know the meaning of love, Janus?”

Janus paused, and Gladiolus waited for him patiently. “The meaning… of love.” Janus echoed, and Gooms nodded. 

“It’s what keeps us with Daddy.” She said happily, accepting Gibble from an exasperated Darude, and she looked down at the baby Pokémon, who peered at Janus with teary eyes. “I think Gibble knows it too.”

“You’re the only one who doesn’t.” Darude called from the back of their little party, and Gladiolus hissed at him gently, making the Flygon back down with a cheeky smirk at Janus.

“Raihan is our most beloved trainer. We choose to fight by his side, just as he’s chosen us. He’s shown us kindness and love, and we want nothing more than his happiness, since he’s made sure we would want for nothing.” Gladiolus explained gently. “I have been with him since the moment he was born, and I would gladly give my life to protect him.” 

Janus’s forehead knit together, and Gladiolus chuckled fondly. 

“He did not ask for his dragon blood, Janus, yet he makes do with it.” He continued. “We are grateful for the proximity it offers us to him, but don’t forget, it is not the dragon blood that binds us to Raihan.” 

Janus blinked at Gladiolus, and Darude unhelpfully drew a heart in the air.

“It’s the love,” he said, and Gooms sighed, squirting a little bit of water at him. The Flygon spluttered, shaking his head. “Why _me? _Janus is the one being a shady little bitchlet!”

“Darude, don’t antagonise him.” Gladiolus sighed exasperatedly, as Gibble blinked up at him, wide eyed. Gladiolus gave her a little smile. “Gibble, I can only hope you will grow to love him more and more, though I have no doubts you will.”

“I love Daddy!” Gibble nodded, and peered at Janus. “I don’t know… if Janus does.”

Gladiolus looked at the Swablu, who stammered, flustered. The Duraludon strode over to him, and gently patted his head. Janus jolted in surprise, and looked up at Gladiolus. 

“I have heard tales of gods learning of humanity.” He said, “Perhaps you should, too, little Swablu.”

“I… I may have to, yes.” Janus looked down at the ground. “All my life, I have been in the Exalted’s service. I was hardly ever around humans.”

“Explains the weird speech.” Darude said, and Janus’s eyes shot up to look at him. Gooms sighed, and sprayed water at Darude again. “_Gooms!_” The Flygon hissed. 

“Be quiet!” She hissed, and Gibble began to giggle. The two dragons quickly calmed down and gave the little Gible sweet smiles. 

“Then give it time.” Gladiolus said gently. “Raihan is a patient man, and grows to love Pokémon quickly.” He looked at Janus meaningfully. “And I ask you to respect his wishes, to be rid of Arceus’s gift is a decision influenced by his experiences, not out of slight for your master.”

“_Our _master.” Janus mumbled, and Gladiolus huffed. 

“Janus, please.” He said, and the Swablu sank further into the fluff of his feathers. “Hopefully, someday you will understand.” 

“Understand what?” Janus grumbled, and blinked up at Gladiolus when he peered at Raihan’s tent.

“That this gift Arceus gave him… is also a curse.” He said, and the other Pokémon around him went quiet. “Gooms, Darude and I will keep watch over him deep into the night, until the next morning. Raihan’s rut may last longer, or may be shorter, we cannot know.” 

“Right.” Gooms and Darude nodded, and Gibble looked up at Gooms.

“Big sis…?” She mumbled. 

“We do so because we love him, but I fear that someday, even we will be overwhelmed by Raihan’s burning blood.” Gladiolus peered at Janus. “When that day comes, I understand that Raihan may no longer return to the boy I loved as a child.”

Janus blinked at him in confusion, and Gladiolus huffed, getting up. 

“Darude, please keep first watch. While the sun is high, we will be more visible from above. Gooms, please take the second shift before nightfall.”

Darude and Gooms nodded, and Gibble raised her hand eagerly. 

“I’m coming with big sis!” She volunteered, and Gladiolus nodded. 

“Thank you very much, Gibble.” He said sweetly, and the Gible beamed up at Gooms, who smiled back down at her proudly. 

“I will take the third watch with you.” Janus said suddenly, and Gooms and Darude shot him wary glances. The Swablu huffed, ruffling his feathers as he fluffed them up. “I will carry my own weight while I am on this team, thank you very much. It would be counterproductive to my mission if I did not.”

Gladiolus nodded once. “Thank you, Janus.” 

“Right, I’m up.” Darude huffed, reaching into the bag of Pokéfood to take two handfuls. “See you guys at sunset.”

“Thank you, Darude.” Gladiolus nodded, and the Flygon nodded, shooting up into the air to disappear into the trees. The Pokémon settled down into awkward silence around the fire, and Gladiolus shut his eyes. “Gibble, I am truly very sorry.”

“Huh?” Gibble blinked—

And the screams began.

* * *

In the five years that Raihan knew he had a secondary typing, his ruts had developed from an enigma he couldn’t understand, to a routine he learned to outsmart as time went by. The signs were almost always irregular, in a confusing pattern that would sometimes match too similarly to his usual day-to-day living, until it wasn’t—in the days prior to the peak of rut, he could get unreasonably short-tempered, or incredibly horny. His appetite would pick up or completely disappear. His energy levels would wildly fluctuate as the signs of his rut began to manifest.

The most obvious had been something the Hammerlockes called burning blood. It was hardly pleasant, no matter how amazing it sounded, what with the sex that ensued in the night (and sometimes day) after. 

Raihan had read the stories Sonia sometimes read online, too. He’d seen different scientific papers explaining the phenomenon of rut in Pokémon, of both dragon and normal-type, and yet still, none of them could quite capture exactly how _excruciating_ it felt. Sonia helped him understand his rut by likening it to menstruation, something he was a _little _more familiar with. 

_“Fluctuations in hormone concentrations in the blood can cause different physiological changes to happen.”_ Sonia had said, _“You’ve had partners that menstruate. I’m sure you’ve seen how they’re like.”_

Raihan knew. In a way, predicting his ruts was like predicting menstruation—but not quite. 

For starters, unlike menstruating, his rut had a few more inconvenient symptoms than bleeding. 

The moment Raihan zipped his tent shut, he felt it—the peak of his rut, hitting him _hard _like a pile of bricks was dropped on him. He shuddered, growling lowly as arousal, rage and the scorching heat of the burning blood tore through him. Raihan dropped to the ground, snarling angrily as the sensations compounded, ripping through his mind with a searing vengeance he hadn’t felt in a long, _long _time.

He writhed on top of his sleeping bag, and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the flames of his rut practically burn him alive, and at the back of his mind, he thought of Aphis. 

Was this what Torment felt like?

Was this what she felt, so young and helpless, writhing under such _excruciating_ pain?

The burning blood felt like molten lava, poured through his veins. Suppressing it was a mistake, Raihan knew—with every rut he’d forcibly calmed with GWeez, the next one would return with a vengeance, like a furious god gaining vengeance for being wronged. 

Like in affirmation, the dragon within Raihan roared, and tore his throat open in a _scream_.

_I hate this,_ his mind raced, as he thought of Aphis, melting from the inside with poison and pain.

He thought of Allister, forever young, never to meet loved ones beyond the grave.

He thought of Nessa, of her skin easily breaking every dry summertime, bleeding out into unforgiving saltwater with no hope of closure.

He thought of Steven, whatever type he would be, unable to feel anything—his beloved family’s warmth, his husband’s kisses, _anything, _ever again.

He thought of himself, of the lava that burned through his veins, of the fairy-type poison that stole his heartbeat for a long, frightening moment, and the ice of Sinnoh that would surely freeze him solid. 

**_I hate this,_** he thought, despaired, as he reached for his bag. **_This isn’t sustainable._**

He thought of Leon, all alone, with a sea between them, caught in a storm of despair as the breath of life escaped Raihan’s lips. 

He opened his mouth—and all that came out was a scream. A scream of rage, of pain—_begging _someone, _anyone, _even that _fucking Arceus,_ to take it all away.

_None of this is worth it._

* * *

“Gibble!” Gladiolus gasped, as the little Gible shook her head, jumping up onto her feet. “Gibble, no!” He struggled to his feet, and Gooms jumped up nimbly onto her feet, too. 

“Gibble!” She called, hurrying after the baby dragon much more easily than Gladiolus. “Gibble, you can’t! He might hurt you!”

“He’s my Daddy!” Gibble shouted back at her, “_I’ll _make him better!”

“Gib—” Gooms began, but she jumped when the Gible dug quickly underground, disappearing from their view. Gooms deflated, sinking down onto the ground next to Gladiolus, and he looked at her pityingly as he held her hand. 

“What do we do?” He asked gently, and Gooms looked at him, her worry palpable in her expression. He bowed his head once. “For once, I… I don’t know what to do.”

“I…” Gooms began to say, when Janus raised his head.

“Let her go.” He said, and the dragons looked at him, wide-eyed in alarm. “The dragonborn will not hurt her. He _cannot _hurt her.”

“What… do you mean?” Gladiolus asked, and Janus gave him a wry little grin.

“She was born late. You would not have known this, but that little Gible, according to human science, was set to be born a few days before she actually was.” He said, and Gooms and Gladiolus shared a surprised look. “She was… different, of course, as a child of different colour.”

“You mean… shiny?” Gooms ventured, and Janus nodded.

“As in nature, your so-called ‘_shiny_’ Pokémon are weaker than most extant species. They are born with a genetic defect that makes them appear different to others, along with other complications that may or may not be fatal, depending on how the Pokémon is raised.” Janus shut his eyes. “My master is not fond of humanity’s perseverance in searching for Its mistakes.”

“Mistakes.” Gladiolus said, and Janus withered slightly.

“Its… _other creations._” Janus said delicately, and the Duraludon shook his head exasperatedly. Janus huffed, and continued. “Gibble, of course, was one such Pokémon. She is fated to develop more slowly, hence her delayed hatch.”

“I see.” Gooms hummed, taking a seat with a sigh. 

“It was the dragonborn’s voice that woke her.” He continued, and Gladiolus blinked at him.

“His… voice?” He asked, and Janus cocked his head. 

“The draconic one.” He clarified, “You were all there, were you not? The moment your master spoke with the tongue of dragons, Gibble hatched?”

“Oh!” Gooms jumped, “Now that you mention it…”

“She is not bowed by his voice. Rather, she is awakened by it.” Janus said, and another scream from Raihan made them all turn to look at Raihan’s tent. 

Janus frowned slightly to himself, and Gladiolus saw him. He smiled slightly, as the Swablu settled down on the ground, brow furrowed. 

_Exalted… are your gifts truly such terrible things?_

* * *

Gibble burst out of the ground, appearing underneath the fabric of Raihan’s tent. Without hesitating, she cut through it with her teeth, popping into the tent to see Raihan curled up in the corner, growling and snarling, shivering violently. Her eyes widened at him, welling with tears, and his gaze locked onto her, wild-eyed and unfocused, more draconic than she’d ever seen him before.

“Daddy,” She breathed, reaching out for him, and Raihan shook his head, burying his face into his sleeping bag. Gibble jolted. “_Daddy!_”

“Gib—Gibble,” Raihan’s voice was raw, torn from his screams of pain and rage. “Gibble, get out of here before I hurt you.”

“You won’t!” She insisted, stepping towards him, but Raihan suddenly snarled at her, making her jolt back, tearing up at what he’d done. 

“_Fuck,_” Raihan swore, burying his face in his shaking hands. “Gibble, I’m so—I’m… so sorry.”

“Daddy.” Gibble sniffled, and looked around the tent. She spotted his bag, and a memory resurfaced in her mind. A while ago, a little girl had needed the thing in his bag. She had been trembling terribly, screaming as terribly as Raihan was, but she calmed right down when he used it. Gibble lit up—if she used it on Raihan, then he wouldn’t be in so much pain anymore!

She made a beeline for his bag, and he growled at her, jerking forward to reach for her, and Gibble jumped out of the way, feeling her heart pounding in her chest in fear as Raihan physically restrained himself, grabbing his own wrist and shoving his hands under his knees, shaking his head.

“Gibble—baby, please—just—just get out of here.” He said hoarsely, but Gibble ignored him, diving for his bag. “G-_Gibble._”

His voice took on an otherworldly timbre, carrying the strength that could bow dragons—

_But not this one._ The feral, draconic strength in his tone, in the way his body moved was_ nothing _to her. 

“I’m not scared of you!” Gibble countered, “This part of you woke me up, Daddy, and _this _time, _I’m _going to save _you!_” 

She dug into his bag, unmindful of Raihan’s dragon blood snarling at her to get away from it. Gibble pouted to herself when she couldn’t find the green stick Raihan used to calm the little girl down, but then something rolled towards her, lightly hitting her leg. Gibble jumped, and she looked down to see the very green stick she was looking for.

Unmindful of the shimmering haze above her, Gibble dove towards Raihan. 

She shoved the nozzle of the green stick into his thigh, just like Raihan had with the girl. 

“Come on, come on…” Gibble pleaded, watching the green liquid enter Raihan’s body, and he shuddered, spasming over her. She gasped as he collapsed to the ground, going still, but she could still feel the heat emanating from his skin. He was almost too hot to touch, but she supposed she didn’t mind—

Gibles were built to need the heat, after all.

She tossed aside the stick when the fluid stopped moving, and snuggled up close to his heart, where she could hear it still beating at a rapid pace. Gibble squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into Raihan’s chest.

“Please, please, please.” She pleaded. “I just want Daddy to be okay.”

The shimmering haze above her lowered its head, and disappeared from view. 

Raihan jolted, and Gibble looked up at him, her eyes wide as he looked down at her, panting softly. 

“Did you… Gibble, was I…” He sounded like himself again. Like the man that held her close every night, more human than dragon, and she burst into tears, sobbing in relief. “Gibble!” Raihan gasped, hugging her close, and he looked up to see his tent flap opening, the rest of his team—sans Darude—peering in, worry clear on Gladiolus and Gooms’s faces. “Guys…” 

The fire under his skin had been quelled—but how? 

He looked down at Gibble in his arms, crying as she tried to press impossibly closer into his chest. Raihan sighed fondly, hugging her as he pressed a kiss to her head. 

“I don’t know what just happened…” he mumbled, looking around at his mostly empty tent. All that were in there was his bag of supplies and his sleeping bag, and while everything seemed a little strewn about, there was nothing else of note. 

Well, nothing, save for the large, dirt-strewn hole in the corner of his tent. Raihan laughed tiredly, running his hand through his dreads as he looked down at the Gible in his arms, having cried herself to sleep. He sighed, rocking her gently as Gladiolus came up to him, pressing his hand against Raihan’s forehead.

“I’m still a little warm.” He said, and Gladiolus nodded. “But I think… the worst is over.” He sighed, dropping himself onto his sleeping bag, and Gooms whined at him worriedly from outside. “I’m okay, girl!” Raihan called, giving her a tired little grin. “I think… I need to sleep for the rest of the day, damn.”

Gladiolus nodded, but sat down next to him. Janus flew over and made a nest out of his dreads, huffing. Raihan laughed softly, looking up at Gladiolus with a sigh.

“I’m sorry I’m such a shitty trainer.” He said, and Gladiolus shook his head. “You know it’s true.”

Gladiolus sat down next to him and held his hand. 

There were many things he wished he could say to his Raihan, really, but Gladiolus understood the distance between them, established by a barrier between humans and Pokémon that somehow, Raihan could sometimes cross. 

Maybe, someday, Gladiolus would have the chance to tell him. 

“It’s not true.” He said anyway, though Raihan couldn’t understand him. Janus peered at him from where he was sitting in Raihan’s dreads, but Gladiolus didn’t mind him, content on sitting next to Raihan and cooling him down with his metal coat while Gooms tended the fire—and subsequently, their food for the rest of the day—outside. “You’ve been nothing but kind to us, Raihan, and we love you for it.”

Raihan’s hold on his hand went slack, and he fell asleep. Gladiolus sighed softly, and Janus squirmed uncomfortably. 

“I hope you understand now.” Gladiolus said, and Janus shook his head.

“I… will need to see more.” He said, but blew a gentle gust of ice from a weakened Ice Beam over Raihan’s head. The young man groaned softly, and finally smiled. 

Gladiolus watched him, and nodded.

“I understand.” He said, “For now, we shall watch over him.”

“Yes.” Janus nodded, “We shall.”


	46. The Motostoke Laboratory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You did it! Oh, Sonia, you did it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some name reminders:  
\- Danny: Leon's Inteleon  
\- Red: Leon's Charizard  
\- Achilles: Leon's Aegislash  
\- Cheddar: Sonia's Yamper

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER**

Hop was an early sleeper, and an early riser. He couldn’t say the same for his datefriend, who, according to their texts to him from the night before—literally a few hours before he woke up—had gone to sleep after playing mobile games at 1 in the morning.

_dont u have class in _

Hop stopped, and checked his phone watch. 

_dont you have class right now_

He amended his message, shaking his head as he sent his text, stepping into Sonia’s lab. He peered into the room, smiling fondly when he saw both Zacian and Zamazenta out of their Pokéballs, cuddled up together near the greenhouse alcove between the bookshelves. Zacian yawned, snuggling next to Zamazenta, and lazily opened one eye, peering at Hop as he shut the door behind him.

“Good morning.” He greeted pleasantly, and it howled softly in greeting. Much to Hop’s surprise, _Sonia _sat up between the Legendary Pokémon, yawning for a long moment, stretching out with a wince. “And… good morning, Miss Principal Investigator.”

“Gross. You said that to wake me up, didn’t you?” Sonia groaned, dropping down into Zamazenta’s fluff, the Legendary Pokémon howling contentedly. “_Ugh. _Dogs soft.”

“Yeah, and _your _dog?” Hop asked, setting his things down and hanging up his coat on the rack next to the door. He peered at the thermostat, at the daily Galar Particle monitor next to the door, and nodded to himself. “Where is he, Sonia?” He made his way to the pantry and began to heat up water in an electric kettle, humming softly as he tapped some tea leaves in a Yamper-shaped steeper, dropping it into a teapot. 

“Cheddar roomed with Nessa last night.” Sonia said, “I left him with her because I was gonna pull an all-nighter.” She winced, getting up, and she bounced in place, trying to get the feeling back in her legs after Zamazenta’s weight made them fall asleep. 

“And then took the dogs out here for a good night cuddle?” Hop grinned, shrugging his lab coat on as he poured the hot water into the teapot. He left the tea to steep as he made his way to his own station, turning his personal terminal on. 

“Uh huh.” Sonia mumbled, sinking back into the warmth of the two Pokémon, and jerked awake. “Wait, shit! No!” She bounced excitedly, and hurried to her table, which was currently completely covered with junk and paper. Sonia’s table was something Hop didn’t dare touch, lest he pissed Sonia off—but mostly because it looked like a single _breath _in the wrong direction would cause her entire table to topple over. “I’ve got it! Hopscotch, I got it!”

“Huh?” Hop blinked at her, and he laughed when she swore loudly, grappling with an ice box that was miraculously still covered in frost and refusing to open. She eventually opened it, and she held up a strip of three tubes covered in parafilm. Hop stared at the strip blankly, and then looked up at her. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes!” Sonia hissed, dancing around the lab gleefully, and Zacian got up onto its feet, twirling as she did, howling happily. “Oh, Zacian! We did it! A detection kit! We did it!”

“Detection kit!” Hop gasped, hurrying up to her to take the little strip of tubes. He gaped at it, holding the strip reverently in his hands as he looked at the miniscule amount of liquid inside. “Is this… is this a master mix?”

“PCR, yes!” Sonia nodded excitedly, gently taking the strip from Hop and hurrying to the refrigerator—the _laboratory one_—across the room, putting it in a little rack that held three more tubes. “I’d already run it a few times with the DNA samples we have, _it’s working like a charm!_”

“Oh, shit!” Hop beamed, holding her hands, and together they danced around, laughing delightedly. “You did it! Oh, Sonia, you did it!”

“Am I interrupting something?” Leon’s voice made the two scientists stop, and Hop and Sonia turned to see Leon peering into the lab, grinning slightly. “Hey.” He greeted, “You seem happy.”

“Lee!” Hop and Sonia squealed, hurrying over to him, and Leon laughed, holding a box of scones up defensively. The two of them looked up at it, starry-eyed, as Leon set the box down on the table in the pantry. Behind them, Ricki shut the door as she stepped in, smiling fondly as she watched the scientists gleefully help themselves to the scones before Leon could invite them to.

“Hey!” Leon protested, but he was laughing, taking a scone for himself, and peered at Ricki, waving her over. “C’mere, take one!”

“Thank you, sir!” Ricki chirped, as Sonia practically _wolfed _down her scone. Leon whistled at her, bursting into laughter when she choked, thumping her chest as Hop hurried to the thermos, pouring her a cup of tea in her Yamper mug. 

“Take it easy!” Leon said, as Sonia carefully drank down her tea, taking a heaving breath before she dropped herself onto a chair with a contented sigh. “You okay?”

“Never better.” She grinned, and pointed at the lab fridge. “I just finished my secondary typing detector prototype.”

“Oh!” Leon blinked, and Sonia beamed at him.

“Oh, yes.” She nodded, and beckoned Leon, Hop and Ricki to follow her. “C’mere.”

Sonia staggered to her feet, and Zacian was quick to support her, rumbling softly as she leaned on it, walking together to her computer. Ricki stared at the Legendary Pokémon in awe, and Leon gave her a knowing smile. 

“There’s the other one.” He said, pointing at Zamazenta, who was sleepily chewing on a Pokémon Toy. She gasped softly, and pointed at it. 

“Big dog.” She said faintly, and Leon nodded.

“Big dog.” He agreed, and turned his attention back to Sonia, who had finished loading her data with a wide, gleeful grin. Hop was leaning on Zacian now, scratching it between its ears as it rumbled happily, sitting heavily down on its butt as Sonia presented her data with a flourish. 

“Behold! The amplification curve of my _SecTy_ gene versus my girlfriend’s!” She pointed at the monitor, and Leon looked at a line graph that had two lines on it, a yellow line and a blue line. The yellow line rose from the baseline, but plateaued halfway up the graph. The blue line rose to a higher level, and Leon and Ricki blinked at it.

“Secty?” Leon echoed, and Sonia jumped.

“Oh, right! That’s the gene I’m looking for. Gran and I named it _SecTy._” Sonia beamed, “You see, I compared Hop and I’s genome with the secondary typed samples we got using a DNA microarray and high-throughput BLAST, and we found this little bastard as the separating factor!” She huffed proudly. “I’ve been running on RedTauros since last night and I feel so _alive._ Yes, I crashed but that was for an hour _only._”

“Sonia!” Hop laughed, shaking his head as he sat her down on her chair in front of her computer, shaking his head. “Jeez.” He turned to his brother, and gave him an apologetic grin. “Okay, in layman’s terms, Sonia has tentatively found the gene that’s responsible for secondary typing.” 

“Whoa!” Leon blinked, as Ricki gaped at them. “That’s—that’s amazing!”

“Of course, there’s other factors to consider, too, but it’s a start.” Hop grinned. “We’re using that as the basis for the secondary typing detection kit. She’s made five, they’re all in the freezer over there.”

“That’s amazing.” Leon nodded, and laughed when Sonia dropped into Zacian’s soft fur, sighing deeply. “And she needs to go to bed.”

“I’ll call Leader Nessa.” Ricki volunteered, and Leon nodded, turning to his little brother, who gave him a fond little grin. 

“I know what you’re here for.” Hop said, and Leon grinned at him when Hop’s cheeks darkened. “Why’d you think I dressed up all nice?”

“You look great, Hop.” Leon laughed, patting Hop’s shoulder. “Is that your outside lab coat, or is that your inside lab coat?” He asked, and Hop raised an eyebrow at him, grinning. “See! I’m learning! I _know _you two have separate lab coats!”

“The sterile lab coat’s in the hood room.” Hop said, gesturing at a set of stairs leading down underneath the mini greenhouse of the lab. “This is the outside lab coat.”

“Neat.” Leon beamed at him, and looked at his watch. “But we might run late now.” He looked at Ricki apologetically. “I’m really sorry, Ricki, but could you stay with Sonia until Nessa comes over? You can follow after us on Flying Taxi, I’ll shoulder the fare when you get to the Wild Area.”

“No problem.” Ricki nodded, stars in her eyes, and Leon couldn’t help but laugh fondly as she eagerly stood next to Zamazenta. “I’ll wait right here, sir.”

“Thanks.” Leon gave her a mock salute, and he patted Hop’s back. “Let’s head out, Professor Hop?”

“Not yet, Lee!” Hop laughed, shaking his head as he and Leon strode out of the lab. “But you can keep calling me that, it’s nice!”

“Maybe I won’t!” Leon laughed, as they deployed their Pokémon. The door shut behind them, and Ricki smiled fondly to herself, pressing her hand to her heart as she watched the brothers fly away from the lab, Leon on his Charizard, and Hop on his Corviknight. 

Beside her, Sonia groaned, and Ricki chuckled as she looked at her phone, nodding at Nessa confirmation that she was coming over. Ricki took a shaky breath, and turned to Sonia’s computer, swallowing nervously. 

“Okay, Magiflora Mining…” She mumbled, pulling out a USB drive from her pocket, “Tell me your secrets.” Gently she ushered Sonia into Zacian’s fluff, and the Legendary Pokémon accepted her, tilting its head at Ricki as she plugged the USB into Sonia’s computer. 

“Oh!” Ricki jumped, and smiled at Zacian. “I promise I won’t do anything bad to Professor Sonia’s research.” She said, and began to look through Sonia’s files, most of which she couldn’t understand—too much science jargon, in her opinion. “I’m looking… for someone else.”

She accessed the Magiflora Mining servers, and took a shaky breath.

“Okay, okay.” Ricki nodded to herself, and began to transfer data to her USB. “Tell me everything you know about… Emmy Altava, Executive Assistant.”

* * *

“Does my hair look okay?” Hop asked for the third time, and Leon laughed to himself fondly as he nodded again. “Be honest, Lee!”

“Yes, you look great, Hop.” Leon said, patting his back. “I promise. You don’t have wind hair.”

“Not like you do,” Hop muttered, finally dropping his hands from his hair—at least, for the next five minutes. Leon laughed, patting his own hair—braided, slung over his shoulder—with a nod. “Easy fix? Coward.”

“I’d prefer to call it _strategic positioning._” Leon winked at Hop, who snickered and elbowed him lightly. Leon laughed, too, but the two of them straightened up when the door in front of them opened slightly. An Aether Foundation staff member peered into the room, and gave them a bow. 

“Miss Lillie, they’re here.”

The doors swung open completely, and Leon lit up when Lillie stepped in, her painted lips turned up into a graceful smile. Today, she was in white, pointed-tip high heels a white three-piece suit, though her vest was an ice blue that matched the ribbon that held her hair up. Her hair was up in a bun again, framed with golden braids woven with a baby blue silk ribbon, giving her something close to a halo around her head. 

“Mr. Leon.” She greeted as she strode forward, holding her hand out for Leon to shake. Her other hand was carrying the same briefcase he’d seen before, and, notably, Snowy was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a Clefable gleefully totted after her, smiling happily as Lillie set her briefcase down. The Clefable held her now-free hand, and the blonde jumped. “Oh, Cleffy, I’m fine!” She chuckled, letting the Clefable’s hand go to pet her head. 

Leon smiled fondly, shaking Lillie’s hand, and her smile a lovely, sheepish little thing that suited her delicate features. 

“I’m sorry, today I have my mother’s Clefable with me.” She explained, and peered at the large build site beyond them, through the window. Leon nodded in understanding. 

If she’d brought Snowy, after all, there was no doubt that the little Alolan Vulpix would meet the same fate as Sena’s Alolan Raichu.

Lillie turned to Hop, and cocked her head at him in greeting.

“Professor Hop.” She greeted him. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”

Hop couldn’t help but grin widely, taking her proffered hand to shake. “Nice to meet you too, Miss Lillie. Again, thank you so much for the opportunity.”

“No, no! The pleasure’s all ours!” Lillie nodded, and looked at Leon. “Everything’s set up and ready to go for the ribbon cutting?”

“Of course.” Leon gave her a slight bow, and she chuckled fondly. He gestured for the door, smiling. “I’m sorry, I know you just got here, but I’d like to show you around before we begin the ribbon cutting, if you don’t mind?”

“No, not at all!” Lillie shook her head, and turned to smile at Hop. “Will Professor Hop join us?”

“Sure thing!” Hop nodded, and Lillie nodded, turning to Leon with a smile.

“After you, Mr. Chairman.” She said, and Leon led them outside. Hop settled down into an easy pace next to his brother as the three of them walked around the newly-finished wing where he would continue his Dynamax research. The main hall was still under construction, but the laboratory was finished, and he could hardly believe that _all this _was for him. 

There came a lull in their little tour, when Lillie had to answer a phone call, apologising profusely to the brothers before she turned away for some privacy. Leon turned to look at Hop, grinning as Hop grinned widely back at him. 

“So, what'd you think?” He asked. 

“I honestly can’t believe it.” Hop said, “All this… for _me?_”

“Well, you and your team, but yes.” Leon nodded, chuckling when Hop bounced on his heels. “You’ve really grown into it, you know. Being a Pokémon Professor.”

“I think… I’ve found what I want to do, after all.” Hop replied, and Leon nodded. “I’ve been having a lot of fun.” 

“That’s good.” Leon smiled. “I’m really glad, Hop.”

Hop beamed at him, and Lillie joined them again with an exasperated sigh. 

“I’m really sorry about the holdup.” She apologised, “We should get going.”

“Right.” Leon nodded, and they made their way to the lobby of the laboratory building—

“What?” Leon blinked, and Lillie and Hop came to a stop behind him, their eyes widening to see a crowd of protesters in front of the building. The crowd of reporters, scientists and business partners were left stuck outside, and Hop looked at his brother. 

“Lee, what’s going on?” He asked. “Why are there—”

“I don’t know.” Leon bit his lip, as Lillie’s assistant pulled her back away from the lobby. “Ah, Miss Lillie!”

“Mr. Leon!” She gasped, but was ushered away by her security detail. Leon frowned, shaking his head as he patted Hop’s shoulder to hold him back. 

“Hop, make sure Miss Lillie’s alright.” He said, and Hop nodded, hurrying away. He faced down his personal security detail with a severe expression on his face. “I’ll listen to what they have to say.” He said, but was blocked off by more Macro Cosmos staff. Leon jerked in alarm, his expression tightening into a grimace as he shook his head. “Let me through. I need to hear what they want to say.”

“Mr. Chairman, please, it’s not safe.” A tall, muscular man in a black suit and shades said, and Leon glowered at him. 

“I’ll be _fine,_” he insisted, but he was blocked by even more people. Leon scowled, and shook his head. “_Out of my way._”

“Please, Mr. Chairman. We’ll disperse the crowd ourselves. Please take this time to prepare for the ribbon cutting.”

“There’s people outside that need to be heard.” Leon pressed, “They’re here because they have a message, and I will _hear it._”

“Mr. Chairman—”

A sudden explosion shook the area, and Leon clicked his tongue, shaking his head as he deployed Achilles. The Aegislash covered its trainer from the brunt of the blast, while most of Leon’s security detail all dropped to the ground. Leon straightened up as Achilles hovered behind him, and he whirled around, inspecting the area. 

The lobby was covered with smoke, and Leon could see that the entrance had been destroyed. The crowd of protesters had dispersed, and Leon cursed under his breath. Whatever they had to say, he would have to hear from the news. 

“Fuck.” He grumbled under his breath, and shook his head. He deployed Danny, who looked at him expectantly. “Danny, I need you to put out any fires you come across. Help out anyone caught under rubble.”

Danny nodded, and sprinted away. 

Leon straightened up, covering his nose and mouth with his arm. “Hop! Hop, where are you?” He called. “Hop, if you can hear me—”

“We’re here!” Hop called, and Leon heaved a sigh of relief as Hop came into view, sandwiching Lillie between his Dubwool, himself and her Clefable. “What the _hell _just happened?”

“I don’t know, but hopefully things will—”

“Mr. Leon!” Lillie screamed, and Leon whirled around just in time for Achilles to block off a Dark Pulse thrown his way. Leon’s eyes widened as his Aegislash stumbled, and he caught it before Achilles dropped to the ground. 

“Achilles,” Leon gasped, and he looked up to see a group of smirking people, all with their Pokémon out. “What in the _hell _is going on?”

“We’re here to mess you up, Mr. Chairman.” One of them drawled, jerking his head at the Machoke in front of him. “Get the Aegislash!”

“Baphomet! Headbutt!” Hop ordered, and his Dubwool came charging out, blocking the Machoke in time before it could attack Achilles. Leon nodded at him gratefully, putting it back into his Pokéball, and deployed Red. The Charizard roared angrily, landing on the ground with a loud slam as Baphomet stanced up next to him. “Get real! You didn’t need to blow up my lab!”

“We don’t give a shit!” Another person shot back, “Shiftry! Dark Pulse!”

“Cleffy, Moonblast!” Lillie ordered, and the brothers jumped as she stood next to them, standing up determinedly behind her mother’s Clefable, hands balled into fists. The Clefable let out a powerful cry, and shot a beam of white light at the Shiftry, which went down in an instant. Lillie nodded at the brothers, and they grinned back at her. 

“Right, let’s get these nuisances out of the way!” Leon huffed, “Red, Flamethrower!” 

“Headbutt again, Baphomet!” Hop called. 

“Moonblast!” Lillie said, and the three Pokémon shot forward towards their assailants. 

“Ugh, we can’t get through to the Chairman like this!” One said, “Someone mess those other two up!”

Hop’s eyes widened. “Miss Lillie, watch out!”

“I’ll be fine!” She nodded, but she jumped when another grunt jumped out at her from the smoke, grinning impishly. 

“You’re _done!_” He crowed. “Salandit, use Dragon Pulse!”

Leon jumped, whirling around. 

“Miss Lillie!” He gasped, but she stood up straighter, facing the attack head-on—

Leon’s eyes widened as the Dragon Pulse slammed into Lillie, but all it did was blow her hair back out of the bun it was in. Her hair fanned behind her like a halo, and Lillie looked at the bewildered trainer determinedly. 

“Unfortunately, that will not do!” She huffed. “Cleffy!”

The Clefable charged towards the Salandit, and tossed it at the rest of the group. It landed with a loud _thump _as Lillie strode forward, unpinning something from her lapel and pressing it to her watch. 

“Mr. Leon, Professor Hop, behind me!” She barked, as her Clefable stood in front of her. 

Hop nodded, grabbing a bewildered Leon and dragged him behind her. Red seemed to understand something Leon didn’t, though, and picked Baphomet up, flying behind their trainers. 

“Hop, wait—Miss Lillie, what’s she doing with her watch?” Leon stammered, but Hop shook his head, grinning. 

“That’s not a watch, Lee.”

“_What?_” 

“A spear of light that breaks the darkness!” Lillie called, crossing her arms in front of herself, and Leon’s eyes widened. A surge of powerful energy surrounded Lillie, and Leon realised he’d seen that pose before. 

“A Z-move!” He breathed, as Lillie held her hands out in front of her, making a circle with her hands. 

“Be the glittering star that dispels evil!”

She stood on one leg, making wings with her hands, and the power from her transferred to Clefable, who stanced up with a cry. 

“_Twinkle Tackle!_” Lillie shouted, and a powerful blast of light filled the ruined lobby. Leon winced, wrapping himself around Hop to protect him from the brunt of the light as Red wrapped his wings around Baphomet, tucking his head under his wings. They could hear the Clefable ricocheting around at breakneck speed, and Leon held Hop closer, holding his breath as a familiar memory came back to him—

Hammerlocke Castle, a deep black night overhead, a burning, white heat in front of him, stealing his vision away. 

Eternatus reared its head from the light, howling something bright and terrible, and Leon felt his hands shaking. 

“No.” He said faintly, “_Not again._”

Eternatus’s head moved down to meet Leon’s gaze, and Leon could see blood on its fangs. 

_Not again._

“Lee!” Hop shouted, and Leon jerked awake in alarm, looking down at Hop, who was looking up at him with desperate eyes. “Lee, you’re okay. It’s over.”

“I—” Leon blinked, and Hop sat up with a sigh, pulling his brother into a hug.

“You’re okay. It’s over, Officer Jenny got ‘em.”

“Huh?” Leon looked around, and saw Lillie sitting on the ground behind them, laughing softly as she leant against Clefable, who was soothingly rubbing her back. The lobby was—as Hop said—cleared out, and Leon could see the last of the grunts being hauled out of the building by one of Officer Jenny’s stern Machamps. “We’re… it’s over?”

“Yeah.” Hop nodded, and he lit up when he saw Sonia and the little Champion rush towards them. “Over here! Vic! Sonia!”

“Hop, oh shit!” The little Champion sprinted over to them quickly, and Leon let his brother go gingerly to let the brunet scoop Hop into a tight hug. “I came running over as fast as I could.” They pulled away from Hop, and peered at Leon. “There were more of those grunts outside, but we took care of them.”

“Please tell me you used death.” Hop grinned, and they grinned back at him.

“You know it.” They replied, and Leon cocked his head at them as they bumped fists, snickering. They seemed to notice Leon’s confusion, and gave him a mock salute. “I have a Dracovish named death.” They said, “Thing’s faster than a freakin’ _Flying Taxi,_ cuts through anything like it’s made of butter, too.”

“I… have no idea what that Pokémon is.” Leon said, and they laughed softly into their hand. 

“Yeah, that’s fair.” They nodded. “Hop and I only recently reconstituted it.” 

“Hey!” Sonia panted heavily, finally catching up to them, and she dropped to the ground, hugging Leon first, and then Hop. “Gloria picked me up from Wedgehurst when we heard about what happened. _Holy shit, _Hop, your lab…”

“Yeah.” Hop sighed, looking up at the ruined lobby, and they all jumped when Lillie finally staggered to her feet, wincing slightly. 

“Miss Lillie,” Leon said, shooting up onto his feet, and he hurried over to her side, practically _carrying _her while the Clefable looked on worriedly. He set her down on the ground near them, and they all flinched when she hissed softly, her hand shooting down to touch her swollen ankle. “Oh, we should get you to the hospital.”

“Y-yes, please.” Lillie sighed, and looked up at her Clefable, who was carrying her shoes. “It’s okay, Cleffie, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Oh, you’re Miss Lillie!” The little Champion said, and she blinked at them. 

“Oh, you must be… um…” She hesitated, and they gave her a grin. 

“Either name will do, ma’am.” They gave her a nod, and she smiled.

“Victor.” She said after a moment’s consideration. “Skye’s told me about you.”

“Yes.” They nodded eagerly, and Leon blinked at them. They gave him a helpless little shrug. “Skye came over right after the Legendary Lockdown and I happened to run into them. We hung out for a while before they had to come back to Alola.”

“That’s right.” Lillie nodded, smiling. “They told me that the new Galarian Champion was also non-binary.”

“That’s me.” The little Champion nodded. “Right, anyone mind telling me what the hell happened here?” They gestured at the ruined lobby. “And for Hop and Sonia’s sakes, if the labs are okay?”

“Miss Lillie fired a Z-move.” Leon said, and Lillie nodded. 

“A Z-move!” The little Champion breathed. “Didn’t know you could do those here.”

Leon thought of Sena, and he frowned. He remembered the report he read, and he sighed. “They work just once.” Leon explained. Lillie deflated in disappointment, and looked down at her Z-ring around her wrist. “It’ll recharge when you get back at home, I think. That’s what one of our Gym Leaders speculate.” 

“Wait, someone _else _has tried that here?” The Champion asked, and Leon shook his head. 

“You’ll hear the rest later, Gloria.” He said firmly, and gestured at Lillie. “We need to get her ankle looked at.”

“R-right.” The brunet nodded, and got up, helping Hop onto his feet. 

“Oh, and later, Miss Lillie, could you stop by the Wedgehurst Pokémon Lab?” Hop asked, and Lillie cocked her head at him. 

“Of course.” She said, “But… what for?” 

“I… I’d just like to see something.” Hop said, and looked at Leon meaningfully. “Lee and I saw something… interesting about you, and I’d like to see if my hypothesis is correct.”

Lillie shared a nervous look at Clefable, but the Pokémon looked back at Hop, a determined expression on her face. “I… I see.” She said faintly. “To tell you the truth, there is something I’d like to ask, as well.”

“This way, please!” They heard Lillie’s assistant call from the doorway, and they all stood away from Lillie as an emergency medical team hurried into the lobby. 

Leon stood back next to Hop as they sorted Lillie out, and he elbowed Hop lightly.

“Are you thinking… what I’m thinking?” He asked, and Hop nodded.

“We both saw what happened to Miss Lillie.” He said, “There’s _no way _she’s _just _Normal-type.”

Leon bit his lip.

“Another secondary typed person.” He sighed, “How well do you think she’ll take it?”

Hop shrugged. 

“We’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bro i hope y'all's americans vote and also everyone else to make sure they're registered to vote, if they are of legal age. please be a part of your nation's future. exercise your right to vote.


	47. Confirmed Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What were they protesting, Gloria?”
> 
> “You.”

Leon wrung his hands together, biting his lip as he waited for Lillie outside the emergency room. He’d suffered only a cut on his cheek, one that was cleaned up quickly by an emergency response medic at the lab, while Lillie was rushed off to the nearest hospital in Motostoke, her entire security detail scurrying after her. Lillie gave Sonia and Hop a sample of her blood before she left, but her assistant had been left behind in the rush. Leon brought her along with Ricki to the hospital, while Hop and Sonia flew back to the Wedgehurst Lab to get to work right away. Leon and Lillie’s assistant stayed behind to give their statements to the Officer Jenny of Motostoke, and by the end of recounting the whole thing, Leon felt utterly _exhausted._

Mercifully, Hop had been left unscathed, at least—Leon took the brunt of whatever came towards them—and Leon could at least breathe a little easier after that. He was left with the little Champion, who was currently away getting themself, Leon and Lillie’s assistant some coffee along with Ricki. 

The assistant was currently lobbying phone calls—looking utterly distressed, the poor thing, and Leon could only watch her as she worked with frightening precision—until it was Lillie’s brother on the phone.

He found out it was Lillie’s brother when she’d gasped his name—“_Master Gladion! Yes! Hello!_”—and winced when she received an earful.

Leon sighed. “It’s not your fault.” He told her when she hung up, sighing tiredly.

“Thank you, sir.” She mumbled, dropping herself onto the chair next to him. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give for Pancake right now…”

“Pancake?” Leon echoed, and the young woman jumped, nodding. 

“O-oh! Um—my Dedenne, sir.” She explained, and Leon blinked at her blankly. “Er…” She scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed as a flush crossed her face. “It’s a little… round Pokémon. She’s currently in a quarantine facility in Wyndon.”

“Oh.” Leon’s expression fell, and the assistant shook her head. 

“She’s not sick or anything! Apparently, Dedenne aren’t allowed through border control, so…” The assistant deflated, and rubbed her arm. “She had to stay behind. Just like Master Gladion’s Silvally, come to think of it…”

“Yes, I know.” Leon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m truly very sorry this has happened to your partner.”

“Well…” She sighed. “Miss Lillie said that you were working with Aether Foundation to help abolish the law… about that, right?” She ventured, and Leon nodded. “I hope it goes well. I bet she’d like it here.”

“I’d like her to.” Leon nodded firmly. “I promise, someday, Pancake can visit Galar alongside you.”

The assistant gave him a tired little smile, and they both jumped when the little Champion and Ricki came back, holding paper cups of hot drinks for them. Leon gave the brunet a tired little grin as they sat down next to him, while Ricki sat down next to Lillie’s assistant to chat with her. 

“You’re looking exhausted.” They said, nudging their shoulders together, and Leon laughed softly when he realised they had gotten themselves a cup of hot cocoa instead. 

“Can’t help but think about what happened.” Leon replied, and they hummed, nodding as they checked their phone. “There was a crowd of protesters outside before it started. Got wind of any of that?” He asked, and they blinked at him.

“You didn’t hear them out?” They asked incredulously, and Leon gave them a withering look.

“I was being held back by my security detail, and then _that _happened.” He gestured at the emergency room door. They deflated slightly, looking sheepish as they peered down at their phone. “I would have, though. It’s my duty to.”

“Yeah, Sonia and I saw what they were protesting about.” The little Champion sighed, taking a sip of cocoa. “Her, when we got there, me, on social media the night before.”

“You knew about it?” Leon blinked at them, and they nodded. 

“Actually the reason I was up all night last night.” As if on cue, they yawned, and Leon deflated. “This is the first of many, though, and I can’t imagine how much worse it may get, after what happened today.”

“What were they protesting, Gloria?” Leon asked, and they looked at him meaningfully. 

“You.” They said, and Leon blinked at them. They opened their mouth to speak, but the emergency room doors opened, and they all turned to see Lillie tentatively hobbling out of the door with a determined expression on her face, her mother’s Clefable holding onto her and acting as her crutch. The Clefable looked at them worriedly, and Leon shot up to his feet, hurrying over to them. 

“Miss Lillie.” He said, “How’re you feeling?”

“Never better.” She huffed, and gave her assistant a sunny smile. “You can relax now, Celia.”

“Oh!” Celia sighed, slumping down against her seat, as Ricki patted her shoulder reassuringly. 

Lillie giggled softly, and turned back to Leon, her expression fierce. “Mr. Leon, if it’s alright, could we head to Wedgehurst right away? I’d like to see Professor Hop and Professor Sonia as soon as possible.”

“Of course.” Leon nodded, and gestured beyond them. “Let’s head out. Ricki, could you—”

“Called up a Flying Taxi, sir!” Ricki chirped, waving her phone at them. “I’ve already hailed two, one for us and one for Miss Lillie.”

“Oh, thank you.” Lille smiled at her, and she nodded at the little Champion. “Champion Victor.” She greeted them, and they gave her a nod. “Thank you for staying with us.”

“It’s no problem.” They replied, “Though I think you’re already perfectly safe in Mr. Chairman’s hands.” They gave Leon a little grin, and Leon could only nod stiffly back at them.

“True.” Lillie giggled, and they all began to walk towards the roof. The little Champion peered at Leon, and Leon bit his lip in thought.

They were protesting _Leon,_ they’d said.

_Why?_

“Leon, I have to go.” The little Champion said gently, and Leon stopped. The both of them fell back behind the others heading upstairs, and he looked at them pleadingly. “Sorry. I’ve already eaten too much time with you guys here in the hospital. I’ve got to get back to class.”

“But…”

“C’mon, you said I gotta.” They gave Leon a little grin, and the man deflated. The little Champion’s smile slid off their face, and they sighed. “I promise I’m not trying to bail out on you. I just have… other responsibilities.” 

They squeezed Leon’s hand. 

“I’m sure you understand.”

Leon looked at them gingerly, and nodded. 

“You’re right.” He said, and they gave him one last look, before making their way to the window. Leon’s eyes widened. “G-Gloria?”

“See ya!” They called, leaping out of the window, and Leon gasped, hurrying to the window to hear the sound of a Pokéball deploying. Leon lit up as he saw their beautiful red Gyarados materialise underneath them, and they landed on its back before shooting away into the distance with a cheerful hoot.

Leon sighed fondly, watching them go. 

“Take care, little Champion.” He murmured, and headed on after his companions.

* * *

“Thanks for waiting!” Sonia said, and Leon looked up from where he and Lillie were discussing workarounds for the destruction on the Aether Foundation project. They were huddled together in the pantry of Sonia’s lab, their assistants chatting together in their own little corner over borrowed mugs of tea. The redhead beamed at them as she came over with a laptop, setting it down and got to work on unlocking it. Leon peered at Sonia’s screen as Lillie bit her lip.

“What were the results?” He asked.

Lillie looked at Sonia, wide eyed, and the redhead beamed at her. 

“Miss Lillie, you’re positive for the _SecTy _gene.” She said, hurrying up to grab Lillie’s hands.

“The… what, now?” She asked, cocking her head.

“You’ve got a secondary typing!” Sonia said gleefully, and Lillie gaped at her as Hop strode over from where he and Sonia had been huddled over, staring intently at a small screen. 

“Oh!” Lillie gasped, “But… what kind?” She turned to Hop, who gave her a cheeky little grin. 

“Fairy-type.” He said, and she gasped softly, as Leon sat up straighter. “We have empirical evidence, too.” Hop gestured at Zacian, who was currently being licked at by Zamazenta, the Legendary Pokémon whining sadly. “I extracted some blood from Zacian using this extractor we’ve got leased from Kalos, and we compared Zacian’s _Fairy _gene with anything near yours. We found a match.”

“A match!” Leon breathed. “You can find out the _type, _too?”

“Not for all the _SecTy _tests, no. We’d rather not take risky shots, to be honest.” Sonia shook her head, “You see, to detect a certain type, we’d have to use primers—” she cut herself off at Leon and Lillie’s blank stares, and she cleared her throat, flushing pink. “Point is, each Pokémon typing gene is unique, and we’d have to use a separate kit each time. Hop took a lucky stab in the dark, that’s how we found out.” She peered at the freezer. “I’d have to do a confirmatory test with Nessa, Allister and Captain Kiawe’s blood, too.” 

“It wasn’t exactly a lucky stab in the dark.” Hop said, and he looked at Lillie meaningfully. “Was this what you wanted to ask from us, Miss Lillie?”

“I… yes.” Lillie sighed, looking down at her hands, and Leon frowned thoughtfully. “You see, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve… I’ve had a strange gift.”

“Tell me more about it?” Sonia said giddily, sitting down, and Hop settled down with the Legendary Pokémon, soothingly stroking Zacian as it nuzzled into his side. Leon settled back down in his own seat with a sigh as Lillie nodded to herself.

“When I was younger, I took a Dazzling Gleam directly to my body.” She said, and the others in the lab gaped at her. Lillie gave them a sheepish little smile. “It had been right before the Legendary Lockdown for Alola. Along with Skye—the Alolan Champion—” She clarified for Sonia, who nodded. “I entered the Ultra Space to rescue my mother.”

“Ultra Space!” Sonia and Hop breathed, and while Leon couldn’t understand what they meant, he nodded anyway. 

Lillie nodded, too. “There, we fought with her Pokémon, and Cleffie was with them.”

She’d put Cleffie into her Pokéball since they flew to Wedgehurst, and Lillie looked down at it, thumbing at the Pokéball sadly. 

“During the battle, I tried to help Cleffie remember who I was. She hit me with a Dazzling Gleam then, and yet… I was completely fine.” Lillie looked at them determinedly. “That was when I began to suspect that maybe—just maybe, something was _different _about me. Skye couldn’t stand the light, as with my brother Gladion, but I was perfectly fine.”

“There’s also what happened earlier.” Hop said, and she nodded. Sonia looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he nodded. “Right, Lee?”

“Right.” Leon replied, and Sonia looked at him. “Earlier, Miss Lillie was hit with a Dragon Pulse.” He explained, and Sonia’s eyes widened. “Yes, I’ve been hit by that at some point, and let me tell you, it is _not _a good time.”

“No _shit._” Sonia breathed. 

“I was left completely unscathed.” Lillie said. “The grunts were shocked by it, and it gave me enough time to fire a Z-move to finish the battle quickly.” 

“That’s…” Sonia looked at Hop. “So _that’s _why you knew.”

“Yeah.” Hop nodded. “I’m sure it won’t be as easy for us to find other secondary typings unless we’ve got evidence like that, but it’s a start.”

“That’s amazing!” Sonia grinned, and she turned back to Lillie. “_You’re _amazing, Miss Lillie. That’s—wow. I can hardly believe it.”

“It’s not all that amazing.” Lillie’s assistant said, and the lab fell quiet. Lillie looked at her fondly, and Sonia frowned in confusion.

“No, she’s right.” Lillie said, and the lab turned their attention to her. “It’s been… difficult.”

“Tell us about that too.” Leon said gently, and she looked at him. “My boyfriend—Raihan, I think you’ve met him too—also has secondary typing.” He paused, and smiled sadly. “And I can see how much it’s making him suffer. I want to understand how it’s been hard for you, as well.”

Sonia and Hop blinked at him, and Lillie gave him a soft smile, holding his hand. 

“It’s… to tell you the truth,” Lillie laughed sadly, shaking her head. “It’s a nightmare.”

The two scientists looked at each other, and looked sheepish as Lillie continued.

“Physical contact with many types of metal causes severe allergic reactions in me.” She said quietly. “At some point, my brother and my mother had to rush me to the hospital, where I had to be hospitalised for a few days.” She rubbed her arm, and Leon felt his heart sink for her.

He thought of Raihan, shivering terribly during ruts, even in the middle of summer. 

“Certain foods are instant poison to me, as well.” Lillie continued, and she peered at Leon. “Did… did Duke Raihan experience that?”

“Yes.” Leon said, and she deflated, looking down at her hands. “Sonia’s developed a medication that can help him through the worst of it, like an epinephrine shot.” He looked at Sonia, who bit her lip nervously. “I don’t suppose you could figure something out for Miss Lillie?”

“I don’t know if I can.” Sonia admitted, “Raihan’s lucky he doesn’t have that intense a Fairy-type hypersensitivity, but Miss Lillie… she’s weak to both what fairy-types are weak to.” She turned to Lillie, and gave her a bow. “I’m… really sorry, Miss Lillie.”

“It’s okay.” She said quietly, nodding. “We’ve only discovered this now, but I’m glad to know.” Lillie gave Sonia a sweet smile, and the redhead smiled back at her weakly. “It certainly explains many things, and I know it’ll be useful to take care of myself.” 

“Yeah, that’s the idea.” Sonia nodded firmly, and held her hand out for Lillie to shake. “Thank you so much for your participation, Miss Lillie. I mean it.”

“It was for my sake as well, but I’m glad to have helped.” Lillie smiled, shaking her hand. “By all means, please include me in your study and any future publication. I give full consent for you to use my samples and any other forms of data you may need.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Sonia lit up, and Lillie smiled. “This is great—I’ve only got one more vial left for another test…” 

“Just one left?” Leon blinked at her, and she nodded. “You can’t make any more?”

“Well, I can only make small amounts at a time, we’re a pretty small-scale lab.” She explained, “But I bet I can make another batch for future use, if Lord Narcissus saw my results now!” 

“I… see.” Leon said, frowning, and she smiled at him helplessly. “Well, I’m glad to have sorted this all out.” He looked at Lillie, and gave her a kind smile. “Should we take this back to Wyndon? Will your ankle be alright?”

“Yes.” Lillie smiled, “I feel so much better already, actually!” 

“Oh?” Hop blinked, and he peered at Zacian, who had been quiet the whole time, despite Zamazenta’s soft huffing, prodding its nose into Zacian’s belly. “Zacian?”

The Legendary Pokémon opened its eyes, and looked at Lillie intently. She smiled at it, and got up.

“Miss Lillie!” Celia gasped, rushing to her feet, and Leon shot up to his feet as well, as Lillie’s Clefable deployed herself from her Pokéball, crying out in worry—

When Lillie stood up straight, despite the cast on her ankle. She smiled at Zacian, and gave it a bow. 

“Thank you for that.” She said, and Zacian howled softly, before snuggling with Hop. Hop looked at it incredulously, and then at Lillie, and the blonde giggled softly. “Zacian was emitting a Fairy Aura, which helped me feel much better. In fact, I’ve never felt this invigorated! I feel like I can take on the world!”

“Oh!” Hop jumped, and patted Zacian with a laugh. “Oh, you big softie! You’d been healing her since she started talking about her secondary typing, haven’t you?” He asked, and it howled softly, looking pleased with itself as it nodded. 

“That’s so sweet of you!” Lillie cooed, stepping up to come near Zacian. She looked at Hop, her eyes sparkling. “Sorry, may I…?”

“Sure thing.” Hop nodded, gesturing at the Legendary Pokémon, and Lillie giggled delightedly, hugging Zacian warmly. The Pokémon rumbled happily, snuggling close to her, and Celia wiped a tear from her eye, clasping her hands together in front of her in relief.

“Oh, Miss Lillie!” She sighed happily, and Ricki laughed softly, patting her shoulder comfortingly. “I’m so glad!”

“Me too!” Lillie hummed, and pulled away from Zacian, petting it gently. “I… unfortunately, I can no longer pet Nebby—um, Skye’s Solgaleo.” She admitted, and Leon sighed, looking at her pityingly as she looked at Zacian wistfully. “Zacian reminds me of it.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that.” Leon said, but Lillie shook her head. 

“I wear gloves.” She said cheerfully. “It’s not quite the same, but we make do.” Lillie cocked her head at Leon, and he gave her a fond little smile. “Truly, thank you for this time.” The blonde said. “I’ll come back for a proper visit when the Motostoke Laboratory is recompleted.”

“Hopefully that won’t be for long.” Leon said, looking at Hop meaningfully, and his brother nodded. 

“I understand.” He nodded. 

“Well, we’d best be off.” Lillie said, getting up from Zacian almost reluctantly, and the Pokémon licked her cheek as she went. The blonde giggled, petting it one last time before she made her way to her assistant.

“Will you be heading back to your hotel?”

“Yes.” Lillie replied, “I was told to rest my ankle as much as possible, and while I’ve healed up, I appreciate a good excuse for some rest.” She looked at her assistant. “Not just for me, but Celia as well.”

“Miss Lillie!” The young woman sobbed, and Lillie smiled, turning back to Leon. 

“I hope things will turn out well for Duke Raihan, as well.” She said, and he nodded at her, smiling tiredly.

“Thank you.” He said. “I… hope so too.” 

Lillie gave them all a friendly wave, and together, she and her assistant walked out of the lab. Leon sighed tiredly, dropping himself back into his seat, and Ricki nodded sympathetically, pouring her employer another cup of tea. 

“Thanks.” He mumbled, taking a sip as he sat up. “Okay, lay it on me, Sonia.”

“Huh?” Sonia blinked, and Leon looked at her, eyebrow raised. “W-wait, I don’t—I don’t get what you mean.”

“The protest.” He said simply, and her eyes widened slightly. She deflated, rubbing her arm, and Hop looked similarly shocked, too. “Looks like you know what was happening too, Hop.”

“Vic texted me about it.” He said, and sat down in front of Leon. “I didn’t want to spring bad news on you this early, but—”

“Oh!” Ricki jumped, and they all turned to look at her as she juggled her vibrating phone. She gave them all an apologetic bow, hurrying away from the table, and answered it quietly in the corner of the lab. Leon watched her go, frowning deeply as Hop shook his head. 

“The protests there were for you.” He said, and Leon hummed. 

“That’s what Gloria said, too.” 

“Yeah, well…” Sonia looked off to the side. “It seems… you’ve got a problem with how you’re handling Dexit’s repeal. With all the pulling out Macro Cosmos is doing with mining, so many people have lost their jobs.” She rubbed her arm, and bit her lip. “Leon, I understand you want to repeal Dexit, but did you ever consider that?” 

“What?” Leon blinked at her, as Ricki hurried back to her boss, her eyes wild. “Ricki?”

“Sir, they’ve run into a problem at Spikemuth and Derbyton.” She reported, “There’s protests there blocking off construction, as well.”

“What?” Leon shot up onto his feet, as Sonia and Hop looked at each other worriedly. “Why?”

“I—” Ricki stammered, and fiddled with her phone. “It seems they were dispersed quickly enough, but—”

“Ricki, _why were they protesting?_” Leon said firmly, and his assistant squeaked in fear. Hop shook his head, pushing past her to shove his phone into Leon’s face.

“This!”

Leon blinked at Hop’s phone, and his heart shot to his throat.

** _MC ON DISASTROUS ATTACK AT AETHER FOUNDATION LAB EXPLOSION: PROTESTERS AT FAULT_ **

Leon met Ricki’s gaze. “We never said a thing.”

“I _know _we didn’t.” She replied, feeling panic rise in her throat. “Sir, what do we do?”

“I…” Leon looked down at the ground. “I need to get to the bottom of this. I… I need a moment.”

He swept out from the pantry, making a beeline for the door. Ricki made a move to follow him, but he shook his head, holding his hand out at her.

“_Alone, _if you don’t mind.”

“I—” Ricki stammered, but Hop held her back, shaking his head. She deflated, and nodded. “I understand, sir.”

They watched Leon leave, and they all flinched as the door slammed shut.


	48. A New Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I—I’ve been _trying_ to help people. I’m _helping_ people, aren’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, to avoid springing more surprises, just a heads-up: flint is engaged to volkner.

“Leon.” 

Leon jumped, whirling around to see Marnie standing behind him, holding a box of steaming Lumiose Galettes. He blinked at her, wide-eyed, as she sat down next to him on the roof that covered Spikemuth with a sigh. 

“Aren’t your legs hot?” Leon asked, watching her settle down next to him, and she shook her head. 

“The roofing doesn’t get hot.” She said, “And it rained a little earlier.” Marnie offered him the box, and gingerly, Leon took a galette, sighing tiredly. Marnie took a galette for herself, and bit down into it with an appreciative hum. 

They sat in comfortable silence while Marnie chewed her bite, and when she was done, she spoke up again. 

“You know, Piers and I aren’t that much fond of how bright Lumiose could get, but they got _one _thing right.” 

“Yeah?” Leon laughed tiredly, holding up his galette. 

“No.” Marnie shook her head. “They _do _have it worse than Wyndon traffic.” She gave him a little smile, and Leon laughed into his hand, nodding knowingly as she took another bite of her galette. “Have you been to Lumiose before?”

“Yeah, I have.” Leon replied, “No one ever let me out of their sight. You could get lost so easily in there.”

Marnie nodded, humming fondly. “Piers took me there once. On one of his tours.” She touched her choker lightly, and smiled. “He got me this there.”

“Oh, I see.” Leon hummed, and they fell quiet again. He took a shaky breath, and Marnie bumped their shoulders together reassuringly. “Are you—”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Marnie said, “Thank you for looking out for me while Piers isn’t here.” 

Leon sighed again, finally deflating with relief. 

“Leon, what happened?” She asked, and he shook his head. 

“I… wouldn’t be able to tell you.” Leon said, peering at his phone sadly. “I—I’ve been _trying _to help people. I’m _helping _people, aren’t I?”

Marnie nodded. “You’ve helped us, at least.” She said, gesturing at the construction site beneath them, and Leon sighed, burying his face in his knees as he hugged them close. 

“I… I thought I was doing the right thing.” Leon said faintly. “I lowered my salary, I made sure everyone’s getting paid correctly, I… for fuck’s sake, I’m _trying to repeal Dexit._”

“It hardly matters, but _I _think you’re trying your best.” She replied. “There’s no perfect solution to everything.”

Leon squeezed his legs closer, and Marnie leaned on his side comfortingly. They stayed quiet for a long moment, and Leon sighed. 

“I’m sorry Spikemuth got into trouble because of me.”

“It’s okay.” Marnie said. 

“How’s the Gym going?” Leon asked, and she shrugged. 

“Well, Miss Oleana dropped by the other day, and we tried using the Eternabatt.” She said. “Victor and I tried to Dynamax, but only they managed with their Cinderace before the power cut off.”

“Oh.” Leon frowned. 

“Lasted longer than last time.” Marnie added. “They’re getting along.”

“But it’s not enough.” Leon’s expression darkened, and she nodded with a soft sigh. 

“Miss Oleana said that power output measurements are still blasting out their equipment, so they only have models to go by.” She said. “Only simulations of a phenomenon no one truly understands, she said. Whatever that meant.” Marnie gave Leon a little smile, but it slid off her face when she saw the dark gloom that obscured his brow. “Leon…”

“What do we have to do to make it work?” He murmured, his hand balled into a fist, and Marnie looked down at the roof sadly. “If you can’t find a source for the Gym, then Spikemuth’s doomed.” 

“We’ll just have to stick with regular battles,” Marnie said, but Leon shook his head.

“I want Spikemuth to be as successful as the rest of the cities in the region.” He looked up, glaring beyond the horizon, and Marnie realised he was staring at the peak of Hammerlocke Castle’s crown, at the device that collected Galar particles that escaped from the Power Spot beneath it. “It _will _be as successful as the other cities. With or without a Power Spot.”

Leon thought of the Eternatus Extractor, and his hand balled into a fist.

“If Power Spots came from Eternatus… then we should simply make new ones, don’t we?”

Marnie jumped, and she grabbed his hand, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Leon!” She snapped, and Leon blinked at her. “Don’t you go there!” 

“Eternatus is the source of Dynamax, Marnie. It can give Spikemuth the Power Spot it needs.”

“At what _cost?_” She hissed, “Victor’s told me about it—it may be terrifying, but imagine how _it _feels, being so violently awoken in a world so different from the one it knows?”

“Marnie,” Leon said, gripping her arms. “It _tried _to kill us.”

_It almost killed me._

“It was _scared!_” Marnie yelled into his face, and Leon jolted, blinking at her as she met her gaze determinedly, though her eyes were shimmering with emotion. “Eternatus is a Pokémon, Leon. From _outer space, _sure, but it’s _still_ a Pokémon!”

“I…” Leon could only see the blackness of the Darkest Day beyond Marnie’s head, Eternatus rearing above her with poison fangs dripping with blood. “I’m trying to do the right thing.”

“Leon, you _said _you wouldn’t become like him.” Marnie said gingerly, and the Darkest Day dissipated into the late afternoon light, forming a golden-orange halo behind Marnie’s head as he gingerly let her go. “No matter what, you’d stay the way you are.”

“I’m sorry.” Leon said quietly, as the two of them deflated with twin sighs. Marnie huffed, and dropped herself down to lie on the roof. He peered at her gingerly, and she pillowed her head with her hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing.” He admitted, and she peered at him. “I’m trying to do all that I feel is right, but… I don’t know.” 

“I think you need to ask for advice.” She said. “That’s what I always did, hell, I still _do._” Marnie sighed, and looked up at the sky. “I call Piers, wherever he is in the world, to ask about anything. Don’t you have someone like that?”

“I have Rai—”

“For Macro Cosmos?” Marnie cut him off, and Leon bit his lip. “Raihan isn’t the person you should talk to about work. He wouldn’t know.”

“Hell, _I _don’t know.” He laughed sadly.

“Exactly.” She replied. “Don’t you know anyone?” 

Leon looked down at his hands, and squeezed them tightly.

“I don’t.”

Marnie took a deep breath, and sat up. 

“I think that’s where you should start first.” She said, and pressed the box of Lumiose Galettes against his side. “I don’t know when the protests will start again, but you’d better make sure that this time, you hear them out, not blame them for something they didn’t do.”

“That wasn’t—” Leon began, and she peered at him, her brow creased. Leon deflated, and he sighed, shaking his head. “That wasn’t me. You _know _that that statement MC made wasn’t me.”

“I…” Marnie shook her head. “I don’t know, honestly.” She said, and Leon deflated as she got up onto her feet. “Good luck, Leon.” 

“… Thanks.” Leon muttered, and Marnie strode away, sliding down a little ramp Leon hadn’t noticed when he arrived on the roof of Spikemuth. He sighed, burying his face into his knees as he heard a Pokéball deploying. He couldn’t help but smile slightly when he felt Red’s wing wrap around him comfortingly. The Charizard purred sadly, nuzzling his trainer’s head with his cheek. “Hey, Red.” He chuckled softly, snuggling with him with a tired sigh. 

“I don’t know what to do.” Leon said quietly. “I… I know it’s not easy to run a company, I saw it firsthand from—”

Leon paused, and Red made an inquisitive sound, cocking his head. 

“Rose.” He said quietly, and the Charizard’s eyes widened. “I could ask Rose.”

Red shook his head wildly, growling in panic as he tried to dissuade Leon from his idea, but his trainer stood up, huffing in determination. 

“As much as I don’t want to, I have to see him.” Red shook his head at Leon, and his trainer gave him a kind little smile, patting the Charizard’s head. “I know, Red. I know you’re worried too, but I have to.”

Leon looked off to the distance, at Hammerlocke castle, and his expression tightened.

“For everyone’s sake.”

Red could almost slap his forehead, as he looked at Leon witheringly.

_Wasn’t that silver Metagross—Orpheus, or something?—trained by a CEO just like you?_

* * *

Raihan stretched wide, letting out a long, _satisfying_ yawn as he looked across the stretch of road ahead of him. It was nice to go camping, all on his own for the past few weeks. Getting back out on the road was a _dream, _at least until he found out that Sunnyshore was literally _across _Sinnoh, and decided to hitch a ride until the route before reaching the city, just to get some camping in before his first Gym battle. 

Now, waking up to the crisp air of the Sinnoh morning sunrise in a tent and camping alongside his Pokémon, Raihan had never felt so _free._

He didn’t even have this luxury back when he was in Galar. Even during his Gym Challenge, his identity followed him around, the stares of the people on him as he made his way through the different Pokémon Gyms through the region. Back at home, Raihan was a household name. 

Here in Sinnoh, to most, he was just a celebrity. To others, another Pokémon trainer to beat. 

“No Dukedom, no crazy paparazzi…” He sighed happily, dropping down on the grass as he looked at the sky with a dreamy smile. “It’s _perfect._”

Gibble ambled over to him, burbling delightedly, and Raihan hesitated.

Well, not exactly _perfect._

He sat up, still giving her a perfect smile as he put her on his lap. 

His last rut still weighed heavily on his mind. He still couldn’t piece together what happened—not a single memory could come back to him that could tell him anything. That rut had been a painful, heated blur that only subsided when he saw Gibble—his precious little hatchling, who seemed clingier than ever before.

Whatever happened that day had _changed _her, and it ate at Raihan’s conscience. He _had _to find out why, _somehow. _

Raihan sighed, getting up and carrying her to their campfire, where Gladiolus had already started up a fire underneath the collapsible pot that they carried with them. Gooms lit up from where she was dancing by herself in the river they’d set up camp next to, and Darude swooped in from the trees, crying out happily. 

“Hey, guys.” Raihan greeted, grinning as he got to work on making breakfast. 

That morning, they had pancakes, and Raihan smiled to himself as he watched Janus perch on Gladiolus’s head, watching him as he picked out berries for each of them, setting them aside into neat little piles. Ever since he caught Janus, the little Swablu had been quite distant from the rest of the team. Being wild as he was, Raihan supposed Janus was just uneasy around other Pokémon, but now, it seemed he was comfortable enough to start hanging out with Gladiolus, at least. 

Gladiolus peered up at the Swablu, who hopped off his head to land near the berries, sifting through them with a timidness Raihan couldn’t quite get enough of. Janus could be rather vain, he knew, but it seemed that he had some sense of embarrassment in him, after all.

“Oh, wow! I thought I could smell something delicious cookin’!” Raihan jumped, whirling around to see a car parked by the side of the road, some ways away from where he was camping. He gave the newcomer a wave as the man approached, giving him a wide grin and a mock salute of his own. “And look who it is! It’s Duke Raihan!”

The man was unfamiliar—he was in a pair of cargo pants and a yellow shirt, both of which were generally nondescript, save for the man’s flaming red hair up in an afro. Still, Raihan gave him a friendly shrug, gesturing at the space between them. 

“I’m sorry if I can’t extend the same familiarity to you.” Raihan said, grinning a little when the man jumped in realisation, laughing sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Shit, you’re right. Sorry.” He grinned, “Don’t think I made it up to you fancy schmos back in Worlds.” 

“Oh?” Raihan blinked, and the man offered him his hand to shake. 

“The name’s Flint. I’m a member of the Sinnohan Elite Four.” He said, and Raihan lit up, shaking his hand. “I took part in Worlds a while back, too, but I didn’t quite make the cut. You were—uh, Masters’ Eight, right?”

“Rank 7, yeah.” Raihan nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Flint gave him a grin, and peered at the pancakes he was making. “I don’t suppose you’ve got enough to share, do you?”

“More than.” Raihan replied with a shrug. “Typically, I eat the whole package anyway.”

“The whole thing?” Flint gaped at him. “You share with your team, right?” 

“Some of them, yeah. I’ve got some babies that can’t eat too much of this stuff, and some members that aren’t allowed it at all.” He gestured at Gladiolus, who peered at them curiously while Janus seemed to squint suspiciously at Flint. “Janus, cut it out. He’s a friend.”

Gladiolus patted Janus’s head, and the Swablu seemed to quieten down. 

Flint whistled. “So _that’s _a Duraludon. First time I’ve seen one up close.”

“Yep.” Raihan nodded. “You, uh. I don’t think the League’s this way, is it?” 

“Nah, I was on my way to Sunnyshore.” Flint said, “I’d been driving since last night and I’ve been kinda loopy, which is probably why I was ballsy enough to hit you up in the first place.” He grinned at Raihan, who laughed fondly. “You’re just starting out on your journey, right?” 

Raihan nodded, and Flint hummed. 

“Last time I checked, Oreburgh Gym isn’t this way.” He said, cocking his head, and Raihan gave him a grin.

“Actually, I was planning on challenging the Sunnyshore Gym first.” He said, and Flint blinked at him in surprise. 

“Isn’t that the last Gym of the circuit?” He asked, “You’re going the wrong way, then.”

“I get to do the circuit under special conditions.” Raihan grinned, and handed Flint the spatula he was using. “Could you, uh, look at this for a sec?” 

“Sure, since I’m kinda eating up some of it too.” Flint gave him a grin as Raihan hurried into his tent. He huffed fondly to himself, slipping his hand into his pocket as he thumbed at his phone, thinking of the blond in the next town over. “Looks like a tough guy… he’d better be prepared for what Raihan’s got ready.”

“Gib?” Flint jumped, looking down at a Gible that came up to him, and he lit up when he saw her colouration. 

“Oh, wow! Look at you!” He cooed, picking her up, and the little Gible giggled brightly, wagging her arms as he tickled her belly. “Whoa… a shiny! Raihan’s a lucky guy, huh!”

“Oh, Gibble!” Raihan gasped, hurrying back out of his tent to pick Gibble up out of Flint’s arms, the redhead laughing as Raihan carried her like a baby.

“Hey, hey, it’s good.” Flint said, shaking his head as he flipped the pancake for Raihan. “At some point, Cynthia brought a Gible to a League meeting and the little bastard tore through the table.” He laughed fondly, as Raihan laughed along with him, shaking his head fondly. “Your little girl like that?”

“No, she’s been nothing but good.” Raihan said, petting Gibble gently. He pressed a kiss to her head, and set her down on the ground, letting her scurry off to his Goodra by the river. He sighed, shaking his head, but he turned to Flint with a little grin, holding out his hand to show him the Ultra Ball badge he’d gotten. “Anyway, I have a permit to take on any Gym in any order I want.”

“Oh, whoa!” Flint lit up, picking up the badge to inspect it. “That’s a Veteran Badge, alright. Damn. You know, Cynthia came up with this because of you, specifically?”

“Really?” Raihan blinked, as Flint handed him his badge back. The redhead nodded, whistling as he tried to flip the pancake again, only to find it still stubbornly stuck to the pan. 

“Yeah. Happened about five years ago, after she met you in the Battle Tree. She just slowly got it set up, so that when you were ready to go, it was,” he made a vague gesture. “Ready to pop.”

“Whoa.” Raihan hummed, and Flint shrugged. 

“Wasn’t that big a deal, come to think of it. We _did _have five years to prepare for it.” He gave Raihan a grin, and finally managed to move the pancake. “You, uh, got a plate for this?”

“Oh, right!” Raihan nodded, and handed a plate that already had a pancake on it. “So, you’re on your way to Sunnyshore?”

“Yep.” Flint nodded, popping the ‘p’ as he transferred the pancake onto the plate. “Wanna hitch a ride?”

“Really?” Raihan blinked at him, and Flint shrugged.

“Guys your type tend to want to rush the whole thing, while motivation’s high.” Flint grinned, gesturing at his car, now parked off the freeway. “I’ve got a car and a destination. Unless you wanna keep camping, of course?”

“Hm.” Raihan hummed, checking his phone. 

“Where’s your next stop after Sunnyshore, anyway?” Flint asked, and Raihan gave him a sheepish little grin. 

“Not gonna lie, I’m not sure yet.” He replied. “Probably… the rock-type gym?” 

“The hell!” Flint laughed, shaking his head as he ran his hand through his hair. “You’re going about this all backwards, aren’t you?” He grinned, and Raihan gave him a cheeky grin back. “Damn. You love to see it. Now I _really _wanna see how you battle.”

Raihan mirrored his grin, and shrugged. “Okay, fine. I’ll come along with you to Sunnyshore.”

“Sweet!” Flint cheered, laughing brightly as he pumped his fist into the air. “That’s what I’m _talking _about!” 

Raihan laughed too, nodding. “Right. Let’s go have breakfast so we can head out as soon as we can.” He pointed at his tent, laughing as Flint began to settle down with their food. “Oh, and Flint?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re helping me take my tent down.” Raihan said, and the redhead burst out laughing as the two of them settled down to eat.

* * *

“Janus, it’s rude to glare.” Gladiolus said gently, pulling the Swablu back from where he’d been glowering at Flint from the roof of the tent. “I understand your trepidation, but Raihan can really take care of himself.”

“That, and we can beat the shit out of the guy if needed.” Darude said past a mouthful of pancake, and Gooms tutted at him, squirting water at him again as Gibble giggled brightly. “Gooms! I’m gonna muddy you up!”

“You won’t dare!” Gooms shot back, and Gladiolus sighed. 

“The two of you, please.” He said, and Gooms and Darude huffed petulantly, sitting a bit farther apart as they picked at their breakfast. Gladiolus shook his head, and turned back to Janus, who still had yet to touch his food. “Janus, what bothers you?”

“The fire-haired man is lying.” He said, and the dragons fell quiet, blinking at him in alarm. “I can smell it in his words. He is lying.”

“Lying about what?” Gooms asked worriedly, as Darude’s playful expression sharpened into a scowl. Slowly, he put down his plate, turning his body to face the newcomer warily. 

“About not knowing anything regarding the dragonborn’s journey.” He said, and he turned to Gladiolus. “He knows. I _know_ he knows—I—I can feel it.”

Gladiolus frowned, looking down at the ground, but Gibble nodded.

“I heard him mumbling something.” She said, and they all turned to look at her. “Something… about someone being prepared for what Daddy has ready.”

“Oh.” Gladiolus blinked, “Then he must know the Gym Leader in the next town.”

“He is a _spy!_” Janus insisted, but Gladiolus shook his head exasperatedly. “Gladiolus, you heard the man—”

“And this is Janus,” Raihan said, suddenly picking Janus up, and the dragons watched as the fluffy little Swablu was swept up in Raihan’s arms, spluttering in surprise. “Oh, whoops. Sorry I scared you, buddy.” He said, as Flint chuckled, reaching over to pet Janus gently. 

“Whoa, haven’t seen one of these fluffy things in a while. I heard an Altaria was real popular back in Hoenn, so you might wanna try bringing him along with you to Contests, too.” He said, smoothing his hand over Janus’s fluff, and the Swablu couldn’t help but melt, cooing happily. 

“Jeez, get a hand in his fluff and he turns into putty.” Darude grumbled, and Gooms shook her head exasperatedly as the men put Janus down, leaving him to suddenly start scarfing up the berries set aside for him.

“Oh, and this is the prizewinning Goodra, huh?” Flint lit up at Gooms, and she pinked slightly, holding her cheeks in embarrassment as the redhead looked at her approvingly. “She’s gorgeous. Last time I saw a Goodra as pretty as she is, was when Champion Diantha came to visit.”

“Ooh!” Gooms gasped, “He called me pretty!”

“Not you too!” Darude whined, and Raihan laughed, scratching him under his chin. Darude jolted, and instantly melted, his foot thumping against the ground as Flint reached up to give him scratches behind his horns. “_Ohh, _sweet Arceus…”

“Use not Its name in vain!” Janus squawked, as Gladiolus huffed. 

“Who is made of putty now, Darude?” He asked, and the Flygon sobered up as Raihan let him go to pick Gibble up. 

“S-shut up!” He spluttered.

“And I’m planning on having Gibble join, too. She seems to like dancing too, but I think she’ll do better as a Gabite.”

“Definitely.” Flint nodded, and patted Raihan’s arm. “I think you’ve got yourself sorted out.” He grinned, and jerked his thumb at the tent. “Wanna get started so we can hit the road?”

“O-oh, yeah.” Raihan nodded, and grinned at his team. “Alright, everyone. Into their balls.”

Gooms and Darude bowed their heads, letting Raihan put them back into their Pokéballs without much complaint, and Janus looked at Gladiolus pleadingly.

“Raihan will be alright.” He said, as the Swablu went inside his own Pokéball.

Gibble clung onto Raihan, and the young man laughed. 

“Don’t wanna go in?” He asked, and Gibble snuggled closer to him. “Jeez. You’ve been like this these past few weeks…” Raihan looked at Gladiolus, and gave him a helpless little grin. “Gladiolus, could you hold her for a sec? Flint and I are gonna take the camp apart.”

Gladiolus nodded, holding out his hands for her, and Raihan gently deposited Gibble into his arms, before hurrying away to help Flint pack up his things. Gibble looked up at Gladiolus gingerly, and he gently rocked her. 

“I’m worried for Daddy.” She said, and he nodded. 

“He will be alright, I promise.” Gladiolus said, “His rut won’t come back for another few months.”

“But…”

Gladiolus hushed her gently. “It’s the truth. And that man… does not seem to mean harm, regardless of the truthfulness of his words.”

“Yeah.” She replied, and the two of them watched the humans work. “I just… I hope things will be okay.”

“Knowing Raihan,” Gladiolus hummed fondly. “I think they will be.”


	49. Sunnyshore City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This place really is a paradise for electric-types, huh.”
> 
> “This _is_ the home of the electric-type Gym, after all.” 

“Hey, Raihan? I’ve got a question.”

“Shoot.” Raihan shrugged, stroking a sleeping Gibble on his lap. He and Flint had been on the road for a while, but their journey was pleasant, peppered with light chatter between the two men as Flint drove along the expressway. 

“What’s it like?” He asked, “Y’know, being a dragon and all.”

“Oh.” Raihan deflated, and Flint hummed, cocking his head slightly. “It’s… not great, I’ll tell you that.”

“Really?” Flint frowned. “I thought it’d be cool. Don’t you have like, superpowers or something?” He made a vague gesture with his free hand, “I saw what you did in Jubilife with the Mega Salamence. You’re telling me that _isn’t _a superpower?”

“It’s not exactly a superpower.” Raihan huffed, but he couldn’t help but grin a little at Flint’s words. “I guess it’s like… dragons listen to me, when I use a certain kind of voice. Or attitude. It’s complicated.”

“Huh.” Flint hummed, though he didn’t sound like he understood it all. 

“And it isn’t just that.” Raihan shook his head. “There’s a lot of…” He paused, and took a deep breath. “Health hazards. That comes with the whole… typing thing.”

“Oh, like things that are super effective on you, or something?” Flint asked, and Raihan nodded. “I think Cynthia mentioned something like that in a meeting once.” He frowned, and Raihan peered at him. “I heard about it—that little girl? Bug-type?” 

“Her name’s Aphis.” Raihan said softly, gently petting Gibble again, though it was more for his comfort than hers. “She got hit with a Torment, and took it a little harder than a normal-type person would. Landed her in the hospital, and…”

_Lost her secondary typing because of it. _Raihan stopped himself. 

No, not because of the Torment. 

_Because of me._

“That’s gotta suck.” Flint said sympathetically. “Sorry. Guess I came off a little insensitive.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Raihan shook his head. “People don’t normally realise the bad sides of having a secondary typing, since it’s such a new concept. Almost all the people I know that have secondary typing have had it pretty bad.”

“Damn.” Flint whistled. 

“You can say that again.” Raihan groaned. “I guess it’s just something I have to deal with as time goes by.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you can just,” Flint made a vague gesture with his free hand again. “Make it go away or something.”

Raihan’s expression tightened, and he only managed a stiff nod. 

_Someday, he would be able to make this typing go away, _he thought. Cynthia will find the Lake of Life, and Raihan can finally become a man worthy of spending the rest of his life with Leon. 

He thought of Steven and Wallace, and the secondary typing that threatened to tear them apart. 

He didn’t want that for himself and Leon. 

No, he _won’t _let it happen. 

His hands balled into fists, and he missed the way Flint peered at him worriedly. 

He and Leon weren’t going to end up like Steven and Wallace—they’ll get through this, and Raihan _will _come home, finally rid of the Hammerlockes’ dragon blood.

* * *

Sunnyshore City was _amazing. _Most of the facilities in the city were fully automated, and the multitudes of solar panels all over the city made Raihan realise how the city could run itself like this. 

“Yep, those are travelators.” Flint said, pointing at a portion of the sidewalk that was moving. “Over there are electric showers. Can’t remember what they’re called, but they were from Kalos.”

“_Whoa_.” Raihan breathed. “This place really is a paradise for electric-types, huh.”

“Yeah.” Flint nodded. “This _is _the home of the electric-type Gym, after all.” 

Raihan hummed, looking at the buildings going by, and his eyes widened when he saw a familiar name on a high-rise overhead. 

“Devon Corp?” He read, “Isn’t that…”

“Steven Stone’s company, yeah. Sunnyshore got a tie-up with Devon about a few years ago, something about energy conversion or whatever.” Flint stopped at a red light, and grinned up at the high-rise. “Matter of fact, I’m heading there right now. You know the guy?”

“Yeah, he’s—” Raihan stopped himself, frowning as he pursed his lips. _Like me, _he’d been about to say. “I’ve met him.”

“I never got to.” Flint huffed, “But my fiancé has.” He shrugged, and turned to look at Raihan when they came to a stop at a red light. “You want me to drop you off anywhere?”

“Oh, well, uh.” Raihan made a vague gesture. “I suppose… the Pokémon Centre near the Sunnyshore Gym, if that’s okay?”

“No prob.” Flint nodded, and the light turned green. He drove on, making a few turns to reach a familiar red building. “You might wanna leave the Gym battle for tomorrow, though. Gym Leader’s out for the day.”

“Do they have office hours or something?” Raihan asked, and Flint shook his head.

“Nah, but he’s currently busy taking care of some stuff for Sunnyshore. Man built the city from the ground up, so.” 

“I see.” Raihan hummed, as they came to a stop at the curb right in front of the Pokémon Centre. “Well, thanks for everything, Flint.” He gave the man a grin. “Guess this is where I’ll be.”

“No prob.” The redhead grinned, giving him a mock salute before Raihan got out of the car. Flint watched him pick up his things from the back, and when Raihan shut the trunk, they gave each other one last wave before Flint drove away. 

Raihan sighed, watching him leave as Gibble stirred awake in his arms. 

“Guess it’s just us again, guys.” He said, and she cooed softly, rolling over in his arms to cuddle close to his heart. Raihan smiled a little at that, and strode towards the Pokémon Centre.

* * *

Flint turned a corner, and frowned at the sight of a black car parked out at the side of the Pokémon Centre. 

“They’re here earlier than expected.” He grumbled, and pulled his phone out, speed dialing a number. “Babe?”

“_Flint?_” Came a voice on the other side. 

“Hey, Volkner.” Flint grinned. “How’s that security thing going?” Flint came to a stop on the curb a few metres behind the black car, squinting at it. 

“_It’s almost complete. Where are you? You were supposed to be at Devon Tower half an hour ago._”

“Things happened.” Flint replied, and began looking through his Pokéball harness. 

“_Things happened._” The unenthused echo came, and Flint grinned, shaking his head. 

“I ran into Raihan. You know him?”

There was silence for a moment, and he heard Volkner sigh exasperatedly. 

“_Did you even bother leaving Oreburgh City in time, or—_”

“No!” Flint laughed, “I _mean_ he’s here! In Sunnyshore! To take you on!”

“_Me first, huh._” Now he could hear Volkner’s little smile in his voice. “_What an honour._”

“I know, right? I’m coming over tomorrow to watch the Gym match.”

“_You can do whatever you want, but don’t forget what you’re here for._”

“Something tells me I’ll be done with that sooner than later.” He said, and Volkner began to protest. “Sorry, babe. I gotta go. Can you make it to the Boss’s place on your own?”

“_Sunnyshore is _my _city, Flint. I’d worry more about _you.” Volkner deadpanned. “_Let me know where you are. I’ll lend you a hand if you need it._”

Flint almost told him not to, when five people emerged from the car. _Maybe_ he needed his fiancé, after all. 

“Pokémon Centre near your Gym.” He said. 

“_Be there in five._”

Flint hung up, choosing his Magmortar’s Pokéball, gently thumbing at the Seal around it. He watched as the five people grouped together next to the car, and began heading into the alleyway behind the Pokémon Centre. 

“Shit, Cynthia was right.” He hissed, getting out of his car—

When he felt a Pokémon‘s paw press against his side in warning. He froze, and looked down to see a Croagunk standing next to him, its paw on his side, ready to hit him with what was very likely a Poison Jab. 

“Not good.” He grinned, and tried to turn around to see its trainer, but the Croagunk pressed harder into him. “Yo, this is not cool.”

“Flint of the Elite Four.” An unfamiliar voice said behind him. “What brings you here?”

“It’s pretty obvious.” Flint said. “This is my fiancé’s city, after all.”

“Yet Leader Volkner is nowhere to be found.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” Flint lit up at the sound of Volkner’s voice. “Use Thunder.”

“Rai!” The sound of Volkner’s Raichu letting out a devastating bolt of lightning on the Croagunk made Flint jump, and he squirmed out of the way quickly before any of the attack could jump towards him. The Croagunk dropped to the ground, and Flint could finally turn around to see its trainer—a tall man in a nondescript black suit. His expression tightened as Volkner stood menacingly closer, his Luxray coiled around him with a snarl pointed at the man. 

“I could have you arrested for harassment.” Volkner deadpanned, “Step away from the car.”

The Croagunk’s trainer groaned, shaking his head as he raised his hands in defeat. Flint peered down at the Croagunk as Volkner’s Raichu cornered the man against the wall. 

“The first time I see you in weeks and it’s because you’re in trouble with some shady man.” Volkner sighed as he made his way to Flint, who gave him a cheeky grin. He leaned forward closer to the blond, while Volkner clicked his tongue, shaking his head. 

“Aw. Maybe later, then.” Flint chuckled, but he could see Volkner’s ears turning pink. “So, how ‘bout it? In the mood to help me out, see what it’s like to be an Elite Four?”

“If being an Elite Four means being Cynthia’s private militia, I don’t think I’m into it.” Volkner muttered, but he brought out his Electivire’s Pokéball anyway. “Luxray, Raichu. Keep an eye on this guy, and don’t let anyone out of that alley.”

His Pokémon nodded, and the Raichu returned to snarling at the man, while the Luxray gently brought the Croagunk back to its trainer, who put it back into its Pokéball gingerly. It looked at Volkner, and nodded at him. 

“Good boy.” Volkner nodded, and the Luxray kept an eye on the alleyway. “Let’s go?” the blond asked, and Flint grinned, taking his hand to press a kiss to his knuckles. 

“Have I ever told you how freakin’ _cool _you are?”

“If this is your way of saying sorry for the lost weeks, forget it.” The blond’s words held no venom, and his cheeks were slightly pink. “Until you get a Rotom Phone of your own, you’re on the couch later.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Flint laughed, and together, they made their way into the alley. 

Sure enough, the five people were still in there, setting up what looked like a cage large enough to hold a large Pokémon, but both men knew better. 

“Damn, I thought I smelled a Rattata.” Flint drawled, as Volkner let his hand go. “Hey, you guys! What’s this party about?”

“Shit! It’s the Gym Leader!” One of them hissed, and quickly, five Pokémon were deployed into the space between them. Flint looked at them incredulously as Volkner couldn’t help a little grin spreading across his lips. 

“They notice _you, _but not me!” Flint huffed, as Volkner shook his head. 

“Pokémon out, Flint.” He said, and released his Electivire into the alleyway. “Alright, you guys. We can settle this the easy way, where you all give up on Duke Raihan, hand us your Pokéballs and settle down.” 

“Or the hard way,” Flint said, releasing his Magmortar. “Where we beat the hell outta you first.”

The two trainers’ gazes sharpened dangerously. 

“What’ll it be?” Flint grinned.

* * *

Raihan jumped when he heard an explosion, and the Pokémon Centre staff with him jumped, too. 

“What was that?” Raihan asked, turning to look at her, but she shook her head. 

“Oh, it’s probably a trainer.” She said, “Many of them take the time to do some last-minute training in the recreational yard out back. I suppose with us being in clear view of the Sunnyshore Gym, it’s pretty motivational.”

“I see…” Raihan hummed. “When can I see my team?”

“They’ll be ready for pickup this afternoon.” She said cheerfully. “Is there anyone you’d like us to expedite? You have a juvenile—um, baby Pokémon with you, after all…”

“Oh, Gibble.” Raihan chuckled. “Yeah, could you have her done first, please? She’s been particularly clingy lately, and I think she’ll just tear up your lab if we’re apart for too long.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “Just to let Nurse Joy know, was there any reason as to why her behaviour changed?”

“I…” Raihan‘s expression fell, and the staff nodded. 

“I see. Well, I suggest that you have her examined at the veterinary psychiatric ward here.” She said, giving him a smile. “Clinginess may be a symptom of some more serious condition, so I recommend you have her examined, just in case.”

“Got it.” Raihan nodded. “Thanks.” 

She gave him a bow, and left the room. He sighed deeply to himself, shaking his head as he dropped down into the bed. He rolled over to look up at his phone, and thumbed at Leon’s face in the lock screen background. 

“I don’t think I can call Leon right now.” He muttered. “He should be just finishing off the day.”

Raihan jumped when his stomach rumbled, and he reached down to pat it. “Fuck, I forgot. Lunch…”

He hummed, shutting his eyes. Sunnyshore _was _a city, and he _was _there to check things out…

“I guess I’ll have a look around.” He mumbled, getting back up with a huff. He looked out of the window, grinning a little at the electric city around him, and wondered if there was a Contest Hall in the area, too. 

“Might as well.” He huffed, and got up. “Alright, I’m heading out.”

* * *

In the end, Raihan found himself asking Rotom to look up recommendations for anywhere to eat. His phone took him to a charming little cafe not too far away from the Gym, and despite the lack of customers, Raihan was thoroughly impressed with the food and coffee. 

“Curry and coffee.” He hummed, taking a deep breath over his cup of coffee with a smile. “Who’d’ve thought they’d make a good combo.”

He jumped when he heard the door open, and he watched as the barista looked up from where he was wiping cups to the door. Raihan lifted an eyebrow when the man jumped, and hurried to the door. His old Houndoom, who had been sleeping on the ground, lifted his head with a curious little snort, but got up, albeit with some difficulty.

“I’m fine, I promise.” A familiar voice said, and Raihan jumped, whirling around to see Flint leaning heavily on a blond man as they walked through the door. The old barista huffed exasperatedly, taking Flint from his companion and depositing him onto a counter seat. “Jeez, you two, I swear I’m okay!” 

“You got dropped on by your Magmortar, do you _expect _me to be okay with it?” The blond said tartly, and Flint winced, before finally spotting Raihan staring at them. 

“Oh! We meet again, Duke Raihan!”

“Flint!” He gasped, “You okay?”

“I’m totally fine, promise!” Flint grinned at him, giving him a wave, and his blond companion shook his head, sighing exasperatedly. He looked over at Raihan, and gave him a little smile.

“Hello. It seems you’ve met?” He asked, and Flint nodded. “So much for your surprise, then?”

“Yeah.” Flint laughed helplessly, and Raihan cocked his head at them. “Raihan, this is Volkner. Sunnyshore Gym Leader.” 

“Oh!” Raihan got up from his seat, making a beeline for Volkner, who held his hand out for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Volkner nodded, shaking Raihan’s hand before he gestured at Flint. “Anyway, Boss, we’ll have the usual. Don’t worry, I’ve already taken him to the hospital.”

“That’s good.” The old man huffed, shaking his head. “You two still owe me a wedding.” He gave the two of them a pointed look over his sunglasses, letting Raihan see the scar on his eyebrow, before he headed to the back of the cafe. Volkner shook his head, as Flint gave him a sunny grin. 

“Wedding?” Raihan echoed as he sat back down in his booth, and Flint beamed at him, pulling Volkner down to sit next to him at the bar counter. 

“We’re engaged.” He said, and Raihan lit up. “‘Course, we’re still kinda dancing around the date we tie the knot, but the Boss over there’s probably the most excited to see us get married.”

“If _someone _wasn’t so busy.” Volkner mumbled, though his cheeks were pink.

“Like_ you _aren’t busy too!” Flint laughed, elbowing him lightly, and the blond finally gave him a little smile. “What about you, Raihan? Got any plans?”

“Well, I want to be Champion, for starters.” Raihan chuckled, and tried not to reach for Leon’s engagement ring, still hanging from his neck. Flint shook his head, and lifted his hand, where Raihan could finally see an engagement ring on his finger. 

“No, something like this.” He said, “Aren’t you Champion Leon’s boyfriend?”

“Well, we’re still just boyfriends, yeah.” Raihan nodded, feeling his cheeks burn. “Maybe after I become Champion, I’ll ask.”

“Oh, I see what this is about.” Volkner said, getting up, and Raihan blinked at him confusedly as he sat down across Raihan in the booth he sat in. He laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on them. “You want to become Champion so that you and Champion Leon are on equal footing, don’t you?”

“What, like that’s a bad thing!” Flint huffed, struggling to get up, and deposited himself in what little space was next to Volkner, before the blond huffed and shuffled aside. “Kinda romantic, actually.”

“Yeah, well…” Raihan laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek. “A-anyway. What happened to you? What’s this about your Magmortar landing on you?”

“We were having a battle,” Volkner said. “Things got… rough. Magmortar is a little clumsy, and Flint decided to play hero.”

The redhead blinked at him, and Volkner raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Somehow, you remember that battle _very _differently.” He grumbled, shaking his head. “Well, the long and short of it is that my partner smacked into me and I got pretty winded after that.”

“Sounds rough.” Raihan nodded. 

“I’m sure you know the feeling.” Volkner nodded at him. “I’ve heard you have some pretty big partners yourself.”

“I guess.” Raihan shrugged. “So… where’re your partners?”

“At the Pokémon Centre near my Gym.” Volkner said. “I heard from Flint that was where you were staying?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “I’ll be challenging you tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Volkner replied. “I’m actually on break right now, I’ll have to go back to Devon Tower to finish off some projects.” He gestured at Flint. “Mind taking care of this guy?”

“No problem.” Raihan gave him a grin, and Volkner gave him a little smile. “Hey, I have a question for you, Leader Volkner.”

Volkner raised his eyebrow at him, but nodded. 

“Would it be okay if I streamed our battle?” Raihan asked, and Volkner blinked at him. “Like, uh, like a livestream on PokéTube—only if it’s okay with you, of course!” 

“Oh, well…” Much to Raihan’s surprise, Volkner’s cheeks turned pink. “Sure, I guess.”

“A day in the spotlight, eh, Volkner?” Flint grinned, slinging his arm around the back of Volkner’s neck as the Boss came over with two steaming plates of curry. His Houndoom carried a serving basket that had two cups, and a pot of coffee. “Hey, Boss!”

“So you’re battling Volkner, young man?” He asked, and Raihan nodded, quickly helping the man set the plates down. The old man gave him a friendly little smile, nodding his thanks as he began to serve coffee. “That means you’re on your way to the League, then.”

“Actually, no.” Raihan said, “I’ve got a permit to take on any leader in whatever order I like.” He gestured at Volkner. “I’ve decided to battle Leader Volkner first.”

“Oh, I see.” The man nodded. “Well, good luck with that. I’ll be seeing you both on the TV up there.” He gestured at an old CRT TV at the corner of the cafe, and Raihan smiled at how charmingly old it was. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s not busted, I’ll have you know.”

“Volkner’s kept it in amazing shape for so long!” Flint said cheerfully.

“No, I don’t think it’s busted at all.” Raihan shook his head. “But that’s really amazing.” 

Raihan hesitated, and remembered a phrase from Sonia’s paper on secondary typing. 

_While some traits may be more obvious than others, extraordinary lives and deaths may be attributed to secondary typing._

“Yeah, Volkner’s a real genius when it comes to electricity.” Flint nodded enthusiastically, and Raihan felt dread crawling up his throat as Volkner hid under his bangs, his cheeks pinking again. “Just soaks it all up, no problem!”

“I get shocked too, Flint,” Volkner huffed, elbowing his fiancé lightly, and their banter faded into background noise as Raihan stared at the blond in worry. 

_Another_ secondary-typed person, perhaps? 

Raihan stared at Flint’s engagement ring, and bit his lip, his hands balling into fists on his lap.

He thought of a pair of cobalt blue wedding rings, and felt his stomach turn as they faded into the gold of Leon’s engagement ring hanging from his neck.

_Not again._


	50. A Distressing Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Could you imagine what Steven is feeling?”_
> 
> He couldn’t imagine, he’d said. 
> 
> Now, maybe he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _posted 24 november (24/11), 2020 _: happy raileon day!! ^ q ^

Flint, thankfully, was such a cheerful person that he quickly managed to get Raihan smiling again before Volkner had to leave for Devon Tower. The two men headed to the Pokémon Centre where Raihan was staying, and Raihan was pleasantly surprised to hear that Gibble was ready for pickup. 

In fact, Nurse Joy was already holding a wiggly little Gibble, who was desperately reaching for Raihan, burbling pitifully. 

“I’m sorry, she really wants to be with you!” Nurse Joy laughed helplessly, as Gibble practically _leapt _out of her arms and into Raihan’s arms. Raihan gave her a grin, hugging Gibble close as he petted her head gently. 

“It’s fine, I understand.” He nodded, and Nurse Joy nodded at Flint. 

“Hello,” She said, “Thanks for waiting. Leader Volkner’s Pokémon and your Magmortar are now fully recovered.” The redhead pulled out four Pokéballs from her apron pocket, and Flint beamed at her, taking them from her with a nod. He tucked one into his left pocket, and the three others in the other pocket. 

“Thanks.” He said, and turned to Raihan. “So, anything you wanna ask about Sunnyshore? I know this place like the back of my hand, y’know!”

Raihan grinned back at him. “Well, how about you show me the place? Any Contest Halls?”

“Shit, you just missed it,” Flint said, shaking his head, gesturing for Raihan to head out with him with a grin. “You see, Volkner decided to _modify _the lights, or some shit…”

* * *

Raihan sighed deeply, smiling widely as he dropped himself into his bed. The day had been exhausting, but overall fun, especially when he was hanging out with someone like Flint. Flint had been a wonderful guide around Sunnyshore, pointing out restaurants and other hangout places he could vlog about while he was there, telling him all sorts of stories about him and Volkner, and the city as a whole. By the end of it, Raihan felt like he was stuffed full, what with all the food he tried out with Flint, and Gibble was mercifully soundly asleep enough that he could put her back into her Pokéball and not have her pop out of it. 

_“You should really have her looked at.”_ Flint had said, _“Preferably before the match, but if you’re confident she’ll be okay, I suppose after the match is fine too.”_

“I probably should…” Raihan hummed, frowning as he peered at Gibble’s Pokéball, currently resting on top of a Pokéball stand along with the rest of his team. “But I still don’t know what happened to her… how will I be able to help her?”

He shook his head, and turned back to his phone, looking at Leon’s face in the background. “Lee… I hope you’re not having as much trouble as I am.” He muttered, and looked at the time. “Should be about time for us to call…”

He adjusted himself on the bed with a sigh, and opened up his Pidgetter feed to check Galarian news. His eyes widened when he saw his timeline, and his heart dropped down to his gut.

“Leon,” he breathed, and quickly called him.

* * *

Leon stirred awake to the sensation of his phone vibrating against his cheek. He sat up slowly, blinking confusedly as he realised he was sitting in his office at Macro Cosmos HQ, and winced when he felt his back take revenge on him for his sleeping position—

Which was, much to his chagrin, apparently with him bent over his papers, possibly drooling on any one of them.

“Fuck,” Leon hissed, jerking upright as he answered his phone without looking at the screen. “Chairman Leon of the Pokémon League. Whom am I speaking with?”

“_Damn, Lee. You sound like shit._” Raihan—_oh, Raihan_—sounded a little less enthused than usual, and Leon jolted, pulling his phone away from his ear to access the video feed. His phone floated up in front of him, and Leon felt a little more like himself again when he saw Raihan’s face—but his joy quickly faded away when he saw Raihan’s distressed expression on his face. 

“R-Raihan?” Leon asked, and his fiancé bet his gaze worriedly. 

“_I saw the news._” Raihan said, and Leon’s heart shot to his throat. “_Leon, what happened? Are you okay? I heard the protest in the Wild Area lab was dispersed violently, and I got so worried—_”

“I-I’m okay,” Leon said, shaking his head, “To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely sure what happened back there, either.” 

“_What do you know?_” Raihan asked. 

“That… well…” Leon sighed, “Apparently the protests were against me, after people lost their jobs when I started pulling MC out of mining. I… I tried to retain everyone, but I guess… I guess it’s just…”

“_Oh, Lee…_” Raihan sighed. “_I’m… really sorry. I don’t know how to help._”

Leon laughed sadly, nodding as he buried his face in his hands. 

“I… I know.”

“_What’re you going to do now?_” 

“I…” Leon looked down at the papers on his desk, and the smudged ink of the handwritten letter he’d been writing. 

_Detective Robin—_

_I am writing to you to request for a visitation in_

He took a shuddering breath. 

“I don’t know.” He admitted, and Raihan’s expression on him softened. “Rai, I—I really don’t know.”

“_Well, from a historical point of view, it might be good to hear out what they have to say, at least._” He said. “_I saw the MC statement. I know that wasn’t you, but I never saw anything about you hearing them out._”

“Oh, about that.” Leon winced. “You see, the protest had been peaceful at the start. I was trying to meet with them, but I was blocked off by my security detail. After that, some grunts made the lobby explode, so the protesters had to scatter. They ruined the entire Wild Area lab lobby, and from what I heard from my team, there were a lot of people injured.”

“_Damn._” Raihan winced. “_Any idea where they came from?_”

Leon shook his head. “They were after me, that’s all I know.” He jumped. “Actually, there was something I wanted to tell you. Yesterday, Sonia finally finished her secondary typing detection kit.”

“_Oh, shit._” Raihan’s eyes widened. “_Like, it works?_”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded. “And the thing is—when we were attacked, Miss Lillie was with us. She got hit with a Dragon Pulse, and it did _nothing _to her.”

“_No way._” Raihan breathed. “_She’s—_”

“Sonia and Hop later confirmed it. She’s got a Fairy secondary typing.” Leon said, “And she’s got it as bad as you do.” He bit his lip, and Raihan deflated, looking down at his hands. “Raihan, I… I wish we could help her. I don’t know how.”

* * *

“I—” Raihan stopped himself, as the ice-cold sensation of shock settled in his veins.

_We’re trying to find the Lake of Life and put an end to secondary typing. _

“I…” 

He’d never told Leon about the Lake of Life, had he?

“I hope… we can find a way.” He said feebly, his hand balling into a tight fist on top of the sheets, and he could see the dark rings under Leon’s eyes. Leon looked a _mess, _like he’d stayed the night at his office, and the way his clothes were rumpled told Raihan that that was probably the truth—he didn’t want to confront that, not right now. 

It was likely the protests—neither of them saw those coming, and now _this._ His voice echoed in his head in a heart-aching reverberation. 

_You don’t hide things from your spouse._

The burning sensation of shame, of his _hypocrisy _crawled up his throat as he forced himself to meet Leon’s gaze. 

“_Hopefully, we can sort everything out._” Leon sighed, and put a smile on his face. The smile felt like a knife driven into Raihan’s gut, and he winced slightly. “_How about you? Did you make it to, uh… Sunnyshore, was it?_”

“Y-yeah, I’m at Sunnyshore. I arrived this afternoon.” Raihan nodded, and Leon’s gaze softened on him. “Actually, I met the Gym Leader—well, his fiancé first…”

* * *

The conversation with Raihan went on as normal, and it ended with Leon promising Raihan that he would take care of himself—and to head home, first, to get himself freshened up before a real day of work. After the call ended, Leon sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands as he thought of the letter on his desk. 

In the end, Leon chickened out on telling Raihan about his plan to see Rose. 

“I suppose… he wouldn’t let me.” Leon sighed, peering through his fingers at the table, and he winced. “Hell, _I _wouldn’t let me either, but what else am I going to do?” He mumbled, and slumped down onto the table. 

After his little tantrum from the Wedgehurst Laboratory and at Spikemuth, Leon headed straight back to MC HQ, where Ricki met up with him to continue his day. He wore a grim expression on his face throughout the day, and Ricki—the poor girl, he thought with no small amount of regret—was too worried and too scared to talk to him candidly. 

Oh, he should get her something nice along with an apology. She didn’t deserve his anger, none of this was her fault. 

When he came back to MC, he immediately sorted out the statement, sending out another one rescinding the statement, and clarifying what happened that afternoon in the Motostoke Wild Area. Leon knew it wouldn’t do anything—the damage had already been done, after all—but his conscience definitely felt a lot lighter, after letting the world know that it was not Macro Cosmos, nor the protesters, that caused the violence that hurt so many people. Lillie corroborated his statement, bless her, and as the business day came to an end, Leon found himself stuck in his office, finishing off papers he never got to do during the day. 

Ricki had left for the night with an awkward little “see you tomorrow, sir” before leaving, and Leon found no reason to leave. His team was at Hammerlocke, and Red had been given a pretty big meal as the day ended—one of his visiting business partners for the day, a big fan, had brought a bag of Pokéfood for Red. Red settled down to sleep in his office, and Leon threw himself into his work. 

At some point, he must have fallen asleep, in the middle of despairing over how to ask for a visitation to Rose. 

Sighing tiredly, Leon pulled himself up onto his feet, the sound of his chair scraping the ground making Red stir awake. Leon smiled fondly as Red let out a large, content yawn, stretching his wings out for a moment before realising where they were. 

Red let out a confused growl, looking at Leon, and his trainer gave him a sheepish little smile. 

“Sorry. I didn’t go home last night.” He said. 

The door opened in front of him, and Leon turned to see Ricki blinking at him owlishly. 

“S-sir?” She stammered. 

“Good morning, Ricki.” Leon said, “It seems… I may need to run late to work again today.”

* * *

Raihan lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he thought about his latest realisation. 

He hadn’t told Leon anything about the Lake of Life. Nor his plans, when they find it. 

No—_if _they find it. They weren’t sure if it even existed for real, they weren’t sure what it really _was, _or what it was like. It would be cruel to give Leon such false hope, only to not follow through. 

He jolted, remembering Cynthia’s words to him. 

“_What if after all this anxiety and fear, the secondary typing thing wasn’t even true?_”

What if after all this wishful thinking, the Lake of Life wasn’t even true?

Raihan’s eyes welled with tears. 

“_Could you imagine what Steven is feeling?_”

He couldn’t imagine, he’d said. 

Now, maybe he could. 

“_Fuck,_” Raihan hissed, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Oh, _fuck,_ how could I be so _stupid?_”

He heard one of his Pokéballs wiggle, and he jumped when _Janus _emerged from his ball. Raihan blinked as the Swablu fluttered towards him, and snuggled against his chest. 

“H-hey, bud.” Raihan said shakily, petting Janus’s fluffy feathers. “What’s up?”

He cooed softly, and rubbed his head against Raihan‘s palm. 

“Thanks.” He chuckled sadly, shaking his head as he rolled over to his side, tucking Janus against his heart. “D’you mind if I…?” He began, but his smile became more genuine as Janus cuddled closer to him as he began to sing the dragon’s lullaby. 

“You know… I still wonder where you learned that.” Raihan yawned, stroking Janus softly as he felt himself growing sleepier. “Couldn’t have been me… nor the dragons, I think.”

He laughed again, pressing a kiss to Janus’s head. “Did you… come pre-installed with it? Knock-Raihan-Out button and all?” Raihan hugged Janus closer, sighing happily. “It’s like… you were… made for me, weren’t you?”

Janus peered at him, and Raihan’s eyes finally slid shut. Janus stopped singing, and sighed.

“Perhaps I was.” Janus murmured, snuggling against Raihan’s pleasant heat, feeling the dragon’s heartbeat pulsating in a steady rhythm against his body. He looked up at his trainer, studying his lax features, and frowned. “What hardships has the Exalted made you face, dragonborn? What reason would It possibly have to kill you with Its love?”

Of course, there would be no answer. 

_“Janus, you are to descend upon humanity, and oversee this human’s journey.”_

Janus was a Swablu in Arceus’s servitude. One of many, of hundreds of others like him, messengers of Arceus with a sworn duty to obey Its every command without question.

_“You will soothe him, fight for him, fly with him. Obey him and love him, as you have with me.”_

A long time ago, Janus was born among the clouds of Arceus’s eminence. Unlike many of the Pokémon of the earth, his breath was brought with golden wind, his flesh made of mist taken form. Far was he from the stardust of Mew’s descendants, but he was not nearly as godly as Arceus’s other creations. 

_“Bring him home to the Lake of Life, where I will meet him.”_

Bring him home, Arceus said, and care for Raihan along the way. 

Of course, it was his duty to—but Janus found himself, more and more, every day, questioning his master’s intentions. 

If it was Its love that bestowed such wondrous power on humanity, then why all the suffering?

The man of stone with the utterly loyal silver Metagross was overcome with despair when Janus brought him the news of his gift. Raihan was always so vocal about his disapproval of Arceus’s gift. Was this gift truly what he believed it was?

Raihan’s hand smoothed over his head, and Janus looked up at him to realise that Raihan had cracked his eye open, smiling sleepily. 

“You gotta sleep too, Janus.” He slurred, despite the Dragon’s Lullaby—the song that would quell even the dragon gods, from Rayquaza, the Eon Pokémon, and even the triad that created the universe—heavy on his mind. “C’mon. We’ve—” Raihan yawned, snuggling into his pillow. “—Ah. Got a battle… ‘morrow.” 

Janus nodded, settling down next to him.

Ah, but of course—for all the draconic blood in his trainer’s veins, Raihan, in the end, was still only human. 

No, not _only_—for just like Arceus, it seemed that Normal-types remained mightiest of all.


	51. The Beacon Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Go as hard as you can on that guy, don’t hold back.”

The Sunnyshore Gym was _packed_. 

Flint whistled lowly, grinning at the audience that had gathered outside as he and Volkner peered at the CCTV feed in the security backroom. 

“_Damn._” He huffed, as Volkner swallowed nervously. “You gonna be okay?”

“I made it through Worlds, I can take a packed Gym stadium.” Volkner said stiffly, and Flint smiled at him fondly, bumping their hips together as he pulled Volkner’s shoulders close, squeezing him tightly. “I’m _okay, _Flint.”

“Hey, hey. If it gets a lot, just look at me, okay?” He said, and the blond blinked at him. “Just the two of us in there. You can breathe.”

“I… thanks.” Volkner sighed, leaning into his fiancé’s touch as the redhead nodded, rubbing his arm comfortingly. “Sunnyshore Gym’s always been so empty… _intimate, _y’know? I’m surprised how big a crowd Raihan can pull.”

“He’s just that kind of person, I guess.” Flint said, pressing a kiss to Volkner’s temple, and they pulled apart. “You got this, babe. Go as hard as you can on that guy, don’t hold back.”

“I know.” Volkner gave him a wry grin. “We have permission to do that, you know.”

“Yeah.” Flint grinned, snickering, and he peered at the five Pokémon on Volkner’s harness. “Bit of a shame you only get five to bring out, huh.” 

“It’s fine.” Volkner replied. “I’m bringing most of my Worlds team. Raihan brought his, as far as I know.”

“Most of them, yeah.” Flint nodded, “And two new Pokémon—babies, too, but he beat Cynthia with them, so I’d suggest for you to watch out.” 

“Right.” Volkner nodded, and made a move to reach for Flint’s hand, only to hesitate. The redhead blinked at him, and he lit up when Volkner’s cheeks pinked, and he took his hand, pressing a kiss to it. “For good luck.”

“_Wow._” Flint grinned, “You gotta fight more guys like Raihan more often.” He said, and Volkner rolled his eyes, kicking at him lightly. Flint burst out laughing, and pulled Volkner into a hug. “You got this, babe. Give him the biggest Sinnohan hello you can muster.”

“I will.” Volkner began to turn away, when Flint held his wrist. The blond hesitated, and blinked at him.

“Hey, here’s an idea.” Flint grinned, and Volkner cocked his head at him.

* * *

Raihan stood behind the doors leading to the Gym arena, where he knew there was not only a _massive _crowd waiting, but Volkner himself, with five Pokémon to match the five he’d registered for his team. 

Beside him, his Rotom phone flitted around, getting ready to begin the stream, and Raihan took a steadying breath, squeezing Leon’s ring around his neck. 

He didn’t know if Leon would be around to see his stream. He probably wouldn’t, considering it was in the middle of the business day in Galar, but that was alright—Raihan knew Leon would see it, one way or another. 

Raihan couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face, and he pulled his ring out from under his shirt, pressing a kiss to the amethyst the colour of Leon’s hair. 

“For good luck,” he murmured, “Leon, this is for us.”

He tucked his ring back into his shirt, and grinned at Rotom. “Let’s go, bud.” He said, and he saw his feed blink red as he went live. “Hey, everyone! Here’s my first Gym Battle in Sinnoh. Cheer me on!”

His chat was going wild, and Raihan took a steadying breath, jogging out into the pitch as the doors slid open automatically in front of him. The Sunnyshore Gym’s floodlights bore down on him like the heat of the sun, and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh softly. 

Oh, it was like he never left home at all, actually.

His eyes met Volkner’s, and he lit up to see the blond standing across him on the pitch, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Raihan could see a familiar black wristband around Volkner’s left wrist, and he laughed softly, immediately recognising it as he stood in his place across the blond. 

“Leader Volkner.” He greeted, as his phone shot out from behind him, flying up high above them to begin streaming the battle. 

“Challenger Raihan.” The man nodded, facing him head on with a little smirk on his lips. “Welcome to the Sunnyshore Gym. It’s an honour to be the first Gym Leader on your long journey.”

“The honour is mine.” Raihan nodded, and took a Pokéball from his harness, thrusting it up into the air as he flashed his fangs, grinning widely. “Leader Volkner, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!”

“I humbly accept!” Volkner nodded, picking out a Pokéball covered with a Seal from his harness. Raihan raised an eyebrow at it, but the blond didn’t seem to mind as a little white robot stood at the sideline between them. 

“_This is the Sunnyshore Gym match between Challenger Raihan of Hammerlocke, and Gym Leader Volkner of Sunnyshore City._” It declared. “_The match will be a 5 versus 5 single battle._” 

Both trainers gripped their Pokéballs tighter. 

“_Only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon as necessary. The first one to incapacitate all of their opponent’s Pokémon wins._”

“Here we go,” Raihan took a deep breath, as Volkner pressed Flint’s wristband to his heart. 

“_Both trainers, choose your first Pokémon!_”

“I choose you!” They called at the same time, and Raihan threw Darude’s Pokéball out into the field. His Flygon cawed out proudly, spreading his wings as he beat them powerfully in the air. The crowd burst into delighted cheers for Darude, who seemed to chuff at the attention showered on him. Volkner’s Sealed Pokéball burst open in a towering cloud of smoke, and Raihan grinned widely as the blond’s Electivire landed heavily, rippling the ground. 

Raihan laughed, swaying unsteadily at the forceful impact, and Darude looked back at him worriedly.

“I’m good!” He said, when Volkner blinked at him in surprise, and the blond nodded. 

“That’s good,” Volkner said, “Wouldn’t want this to end before it started. Electivire, Ice Punch!”

“Damn!” Raihan grinned, thrusting his arm out at Darude. “U-Turn!” He ordered, and Darude nodded, shooting towards the Electivire in a determined charge that was only just barely fast enough as he bared his fangs, glowing green with energy. 

The Electivire swung downward at Darude, who quickly dropped to the ground to shoot into the air, catching the Electivire’s antennae between his jaws. The large Pokémon roared in protest, as Darude quickly disappeared into his Pokéball before the Ice Punch could hit. Raihan threw out his next Pokémon, smirking. 

“Gibble, you’re up! Use Sandstorm!”

The little Gible shot out of her Pokéball with a cry, roaring up into the air of the Gym as she kicked up a sandstorm around them. Volkner couldn’t help the little smirk on his face as he shielded his eyes from the sandstorm. 

“Keep your ears out, Electivire, you can hear her coming!” Volkner barked.

“Gibble, use Dig!” Raihan called over the roar of the sandstorm, and she nodded, quickly burrowing under the ground. 

“Big mistake, Raihan!” Volkner smirked, “Electivire, use Bulldoze!” 

The Electivire leapt into the air, eyes firmly shut, and slammed down into the ground, _hard._ Gibble came shooting out of the ground with a pained cry, having been knocked out of her tunnels with the impact.

“Gibble!” Raihan gasped.

“Now, get her with Ice Punch!” Volkner ordered, and Raihan shook his head. 

“Gibble, break the ice with Dragon Claw!” He ordered, “And get on its back!” 

Gibble swiped at the ice, shattering it into pieces as she landed on the Electivire’s arm, quickly scuttling up to get onto its head. 

“Throw her off with Wild Charge!” Volkner threw his hand out at his Pokémon, who immediately glowed with golden light as he began to move around wildly. Much to its surprise, Gibble leapt off, and disappeared into the howling sandstorm around them. “Listen carefully!”

“Volkner must know about how Gibles move in a sandstorm, huh.” Raihan muttered, frowning as he shook his head. “Gibble, use Dig again!” 

“Hold still, Electivire!” Volkner called, “And hit her with Ice Punch the moment she gets out!”

“Gibble, use Sandstorm underground!”

“Underground!” The blond laughed in awe, but flinched away as multiple columns of furiously-howling sand shot up from the ground, bursting out of the tunnels Gibble had dug. 

“Now, get him with Outrage!” Raihan roared, and a faint glow of violet, draconic rage shimmered within the howling wind of the sandstorm. 

“Here we go,” Volkner huffed, “If she gets close, let her have it, Electivire!” 

Raihan could spot the silhouette of his Gible in the sandstorm, lit with the light of Outrage, and she moved impossibly quickly through the sand. His eyes widened when he realised he could hear something—clacking, of some sorts, and he realised that Gibble was opening and closing her mouth. 

She shot forward, darting towards the Electivire, but the Pokémon quickly whirled around, meeting her Outrage with an Ice Punch, sending her flying back. Still, Gibble seemed somewhat unscathed, draconic rage bubbling inside her as she shot forward again—

“Close your mouth, Gibble!” He called, and she quickly obeyed, snapping her jaw shut as she darted around the Electivire, who looked about as surprised as Volkner when they realised they could no longer find her. “_Yes!_” Raihan hissed, as Gibble darted forward again, slamming into the Electivire’s back to knock him down. 

The Electivire roared angrily as it skidded off to the side, and Gibble dropped to the ground, panting heavily. Raihan bit his lip as the Electivire struggled to get up, the last of the sandstorm fading away. 

“Quickly, while she’s exhausted! Ice Punch!” Volkner ordered, and Electivire shot towards Gibble—

“_Gibble!_” Raihan snarled, his eyes thinning into slits, and the little Gible’s eyes snapped open. She darted forward between the Electivire’s legs, and Raihan nodded. “Good girl! Get him with one last Dragon Claw!”

Volkner made a move to shout a command, but Gibble shot up from the ground, slamming right into the Electivire’s midsection with a furious, glowing claw. It let out a cry as it dropped to the ground, slumping down with a weak, defeated sigh. 

“_Electivire is unable to battle!_” The robot declared, raising a flag on Raihan’s side. “_Gible wins!_”

Volkner nodded, smiling slightly as he put his Electivire back into its Pokéball. 

“You’re very creative with your moves, I’ll give you that.” He said, “That was truly impressive, especially the transition from Dig to Sandstorm.” He gestured at Gibble, who landed on her feet unsteadily, but faced him head-on with determined eyes. “And outstanding training, to have Gible recover so quickly despite her fatigue.”

Raihan jolted. _Oh, shit. _He’d unwittingly used his dragon voice on her when she was about to grow confused from exhaustion. 

“Y-yeah,” Raihan replied uneasily, and Gibble looked at him worriedly. “Gibble… come back.” He sighed, and she nodded as he put her back into her Pokéball. Raihan met Volkner’s gaze, and the blond nodded.

“Here comes my next partner,” He declared, and brought out a Luxray. Raihan nodded to himself, taking a deep breath as he took a Pokéball from its harness. “Choose your next partner, Raihan.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded. “I choose you, Gladiolus!” He called, and threw out Gladiolus, who straightened up with a cry as he appeared on the field. The crowd burst into excited murmurs as the unfamiliar Galarian Pokémon appeared, and Raihan felt some semblance of himself return as he looked at Gladiolus’s unfailing, stalwart silver coat, glimmering with a polished sheen. 

“A Duraludon, huh.” Volkner nodded, “First time I’m facing one.”

“I’ll make sure it’ll be memorable.” Raihan grinned, and Volkner gave him a grin back. “Gladiolus, Dragon Pulse!”

“Dodge it, Luxray!” Volkner barked, and the Luxray dodged to the side.

“Turn around and follow after it!” Raihan ordered, and Gladiolus turned nimbly on one leg to let the beam of draconic rage turn around towards the Luxray. Volkner’s eyes widened. 

“It’s fast.” He said, shaking his head. “Stay sharp, Luxray! Use Thunder Wave to slow it down!” 

“Use Stone Edge, Gladiolus!” Raihan called, and Gladiolus dropped to the ground, roaring as a pillar of rock came shooting up in front of him, heading towards the Luxray. 

“Dodge to the side! You’ll hit it!” Volkner nodded, and the Luxray leapt to the side of the wall of stone, letting loose a wave of electric energy from its mouth—

“Now hide behind the rocks!” Raihan grinned, and Gladiolus hurried behind the wall of stone, surprisingly nimbly, and Volkner couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. 

“Oh, you!” He shook his head, and Raihan grinned. “Smash through the rocks with Superpower, and get that Duraludon!”

* * *

“_Hold still!_” The Luxray hissed furiously at Gladiolus, who gave him a little shake of his head as he obeyed Raihan’s words. “Your shape is _not _aerodynamic at all!”

“I’m very sorry, but I can’t do that.” He said placatingly, “A good effort, though.”

* * *

Raihan burst out laughing when Gladiolus’s placating little growl only made the Luxray _angrier, _and Raihan whistled as it charged right through the wall of stone that protected Gladiolus from its Thunder Wave. 

“That’s an angry kitty!” He said, “Gladiolus, dodge out of the way!” 

“That’s his ability,” Volkner replied, “Rivalry. I’m sure whatever it was your Gladiolus said, it must have pissed him off.”

“I’m sure.” Raihan laughed as the Luxray skidded to a halt, snarling at Gladiolus as it got low to the ground.

“Let’s go, Luxray, use Superpower again!” Volkner ordered, and the Luxray charged at Gladiolus with alarming speed. 

“Hold fast, Gladiolus! Take it down when it gets close!” 

Volkner clicked his tongue, but he couldn’t help but grin, shaking his head as his Luxray shot towards Gladiolus—

“Dragon Pulse!” Raihan roared, and the Luxray’s eyes widened as a blast of draconic rage slammed right into its front, knocking it back before its Superpower could land. It flew back past Volkner into the wall, and he turned around to see it hit the wall, slumping to the ground. 

“Well.” He huffed fondly, as his Luxray meowed sadly, squirming on the ground. 

“_Luxray is unable to battle!_” The robot announced. “_Duraludon wins!_”

“He’s trained well.” Volkner nodded, as he put his Luxray back into its Pokéball. “I don’t believe I saw the full extent of what a Duraludon can do, but I will admit that this was eye-opening.” 

“You should come to Galar sometimes. It’s pretty good there.” Raihan shrugged, and Volkner gave him a little grin.

“Maybe when Dexit’s lifted.” He cocked his head at him. “Won’t take long for Champion Leon to get on that, right?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Okay, Volkner. Hit me with your best shot.”

“You may wish I hadn’t.” Volkner said, and threw out his next Pokéball. “Let’s go, Raichu!”

Raihan lit up when he saw a little green gemstone hanging from a little hoop around the base of the Raichu’s ear, as it grinned cheekily at Gladiolus, thumping its tail on the ground. 

Raihan took a steadying breath, and nodded. “Okay, Gladiolus! Flash Cannon!”

“Raichu, Focus Blast!” Volkner ordered, and Raihan’s eyes widened as the Raichu darted underneath the beam of light Gladiolus let loose from his maw, gathering energy between his paws. 

“Gladiolus, get outta there!” Raihan called, but the Raichu was faster, slipping around Gladiolus’s side to thrust its paw up into Gladiolus’s gut, sending the Duraludon skidding backwards. Raihan’s eyes widened as Gladiolus stumbled. “Cover up, bud! Light Screen!”

Gladiolus raised his arms to summon a shimmering barrier of light, but Vokner shook his head.

“Too late for that!” He said, thrusting his hand out at his Raichu, “Grass Knot!”

The green gem hanging from its ear shimmered brighter as the Raichu threw his head back, crying out into the air as a large pair of vines shot up from the ground, yanking Gladiolus down. He slammed down _hard, _and Raihan winced as Gladiolus whined softly as the vines receded from his body. 

“_Duraludon is unable to battle!_” The robot declared, “_Raichu wins!_”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Volkner said, grinning slightly as Raihan laughed, shaking his head. The Raichu pawed at its ear, and Raihan realised that the Grass Gem had been used up. He put Gladiolus back into his Pokéball with a little sigh. 

“Yeah, I get it.” He chuckled, and picked out another Pokéball. “Let’s… try this again.” He looked down at Gibble’s Pokéball in his hand, and squeezed it gently. _And this time, no dragon voice. It isn’t fair._

“Let’s go, Gibble!” He called, and his Gible appeared on the field again, chomping her jaw determinedly. Volkner nodded, smiling slightly. 

“A countermeasure to Grass Knot.” He murmured, “Gibles are much lighter than Raichu, after all.”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “And no more Grass Gem, so maybe things’ll work out.” 

“I can get creative too, you know.” Volkner thrust his fist out at Raichu. “Focus Blast!” The Raichu charged forward, shooting a wave forward from his paws.

“Dodge and use Dig, Gibble!” Raihan called, and Gibble dove into the ground. “Keep moving!”

“That won’t be necessary.” Volkner shook his head. “Raichu, use Grass Knot in as many places as you can!”

The Raichu threw its head back, and one by one, vines shot out of the ground. 

“Oh!” Raihan grinned, “Up, Gibble!” 

Gibble shot out of the ground, a whipping vine following up after her. She clung onto it as it whipped around, and Raichu growled, jumping up to charge towards Gibble. 

“Open up!” Raihan called, and Gibble jumped forward to meet Raichu halfway—

“Oh!” Volkner blinked, as Raihan jolted, straightening up in alarm as the two Pokémon dropped to the ground. The Raichu’s Grass Knots disappeared into the ground as his concentration wavered. 

“Gibble!” Raihan burst out laughing, as Volkner’s Raichu squirmed angrily in Gibble’s mouth, growling in protest as she held onto it, looking just about as bewildered as everyone else was. “Oh, that’s—”

“Cute.” Volkner mumbled to himself, as he couldn’t help but smile. “Sorry, Raichu.” He shook his head, and held his hand out at his Raichu. “Now’s your chance! Set yourself free with another Grass Knot!”

“Shit!” Raihan jumped, “Gibble—”

The Raichu’s vines shot up from the ground, wrapping around Gibble’s midsection and yanked her away from the Raichu, who huffed as he shook himself clean of Gibble’s slobber. The vines threw Gibble back, and she hit the wall with a weak cry. 

“Gibble!” Raihan gasped, but she slumped to the ground, whining softly. He sighed, shaking his head fondly. “Yeah, it’s okay…” 

“_Gible is unable to battle!_” The robot declared, “_Raichu wins!_”

Raihan put Gibble back into her Pokéball, sighing fondly as he pressed a kiss to it. 

“Thanks, baby… get some rest.” He put the ball back into his holster, and gave Volkner a determined grin. “That little guy can really pack a punch, huh.” He said, and Volkner nodded, giving him a little shrug. “Okay, I’ll show you who can really _take _a punch.” Raihan grinned, and tossed Gooms’s Pokéball out in the field. 

“Goodra.” Volkner nodded, smiling slightly as Gooms emerged from her Pokéball with a burst of bolts of electricity. “Oh, a performer!” 

“Yep.” Raihan nodded. “You ready?”

“Of course!” Volkner nodded, “Raichu, use Focus Blast!” 

“Gooms, Rain Dance outta there!” Raihan called, and Gooms nodded, twirling away from the attack sent her way as she began to dance. Around them, the crowd cheered delightedly as Gooms’s winning Contest routine shone through her dance, and Raihan grinned as rain clouds began to gather around them. 

“Rain’s good for us too, Raichu!” Volkner encouraged, “But hold her in place with Grass Knot!”

“I don’t think so!” Raihan laughed, as Gooms came to a stop, delightedly allowing the vines to wrap around her. Volkner’s eyes widened when she glowed with a bright light, and her cheerful expression dropped into a look of concentration as her paws grabbed the vines, and tore them out of the ground with a cry. 

“Sap Sipper!” Volkner gasped, as Gooms threw the vines at the Raichu with great force. They landed heavily on the Raichu as Gooms twirled on her toes, looking at Raihan behind her with a determined nod. 

“Sludge Bomb!” He ordered, and Gooms gathered goo from her body, made slick with the rain as Raichu struggled to get up. 

“Brace yourself, Raichu! Use Focus Blast to break up the sludge!” 

The Raichu nodded, stopping himself from pushing aside the vines pinning him down to focus on gathering energy within him as Gooms shot out two Sludge Bombs at him. Raichu grinned widely as they burst harmlessly past him, but Raihan’s vicious grin told Volkner that he’d done exactly what Raihan wanted him to.

“Now, Gooms! Surf!”

Volkner jumped. “Take her down with you, Raichu! Use Thunder!” 

The Raichu let out a cry of effort as the rainclouds over their heads began to part. A bolt of lightning shot down at Gooms as she drew all the water from the rain into a devastating wave that crashed forward, slamming into the trapped Raichu, throwing him back against the wall. Gooms winced as electricity washed over her, and she dropped to the ground, panting heavily as her wave died out, Raichu slumping down with a defeated sigh.

“_Raichu is unable to battle! Goodra wins!_”

Volkner nodded, putting Raichu back into his Pokéball as he looked at Gooms, who was flinching as she tried to move. “It seems he’s managed to paralyse her, at least.” He said, and Raihan gave him a withering grin. 

“Gooms, c’mon back in.” Raihan said, and Gooms lowered her head sadly as he put her back into her Pokéball. “Two to go.”

“Yeah.” Volkner grinned back at him. “Okay, here’s my next partner. Let’s go, Rotom!”

“Oh!” Raihan grinned as a Fan Rotom emerged from the Pokéball, grinning at him cheekily. “Not from around here, isn’t it?” 

The blond nodded. “It’s also my phone when we’re off duty.” He said. “Choose your next partner.”

“Okay, here’s an idea.” Raihan nodded, and threw out a Pokéball. “Janus, I choose you!”

The Swablu emerged from the Pokéball with a powerful cry, and the crowd cooed over the fluffy thing as he hovered in front of Raihan, staring the Rotom down. 

“A Swablu, huh.” Volkner hummed. “Let’s see what it can do. Rotom, use Discharge!”

“Use Cotton Guard!” Raihan called, and Janus fluffed himself up, shielding himself with his cottony feathers as the Rotom’s Discharge slammed into him. He got thrown back slightly, but seemed generally unharmed. “Good boy! Now, Sing!”

“Sing!” Volkner laughed, “Rotom, use Substitute!” 

“Damn it!” Raihan laughed, shaking his head as the Rotom blew up a cloud of dust, leaving in its wake a Pokémon Doll. Janus looked affronted, but Raihan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it! Break up that doll with Steel Wing!”

“When it gets close, hit it with Discharge!” Volkner shot back, as Janus dove at the Rotom’s plush. Raihan lit up when he saw the Rotom materialise behind Janus to get ready to attack, and he nodded.

“Now, Sing!” He called, and Janus took a deep breath, singing as he came charging at the doll, and Volkner couldn’t help but laugh incredulously as his Rotom began to look drowsy. Still, it managed to let out a wave of electricity strong enough to catch on Janus’s feathers, and the Swablu was cut off in the middle of his song, dropping to the ground at the same time as the Rotom did. Janus rolled around the dirt, squawking in protest at the sudden drop, and Raihan jumped, his hands shooting to his dreads when he saw the Rotom begin to stir.

“Shh! Be quiet, you overgrown Q-tip!” 

Janus clicked his beak shut, and he looked back at the Rotom. It made a happy little sigh, and cuddled against the Pokémon Doll. Janus’s eyes widened, and he looked at Raihan.

“Go, Ice Beam!” 

“Ah!” Volkner jumped in realisation as Janus struggled to his feet. His cottony feathers were sparking with electricity just like Gooms’s body had, but he was still standing somewhat. Janus let out a cry, opening his beak to let loose a blast of ice that threw the Rotom back, freezing it in place. The Rotom jolted awake, and began to struggle against the ice that froze its fan blades still. 

“Now’s your chance, Janus!” Raihan’s eyes thinned into slits, his lips curled up in a wild grin. “Ice Beam!”

Janus let out another shot of ice from his mouth, and it slammed into the Rotom forcefully. The Rotom let out a cry, before falling still. Volkner huffed, shaking his head with a fond smile on his lips.

“So _that’s _how it beat Cynthia’s Garchomp.” He murmured. 

“_Rotom is unable to battle!_” The robot declared, and the blond nodded, putting the Rotom back into its Pokéball. “_Swablu wins!_”

“C’mon back in too, Janus.” Raihan said, and the Swablu nodded, wincing as he let Raihan put him back into his Pokéball. “One to go.”

“It’s been exciting so far.” Volkner nodded. “You really have the makings of a Champion, Raihan. You’ve definitely been very creative with your moves.” 

He held up his last Pokéball, and grinned knowingly. “Show me your all, until the very end.” Volkner said, and threw his last Pokémon out. “Let’s go, Ampharos!”

“Ampharos.” Raihan nodded, and peered at the screen across the robot, where it was keeping track of their teams. He only had one viable team member left—Darude. Ampharos was an Electric-type, he remembered. Darude could probably take it. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Darude, let’s end this!” He called, and released his Flygon out into the field. 

“It’s not over yet!” Volkner huffed, and pulled Flint’s wristband up his arm to reveal a Mega Ring hidden underneath it. Raihan’s jaw dropped, and he realised that there was a glittering orange-red gemstone hanging from the Ampharos’s ear. 

“_No way!_” He laughed incredulously, as Volkner touched the Key Stone on the Mega Ring.

“Ampharos, Mega Evolve!” He called, and light filled the gym as the crowd began to cheer excitedly. The light from the Key Stone met with the light of the activated Ampharosite hanging from the Ampharos, enveloping the Pokémon with a blinding glow. Raihan lit up when he saw Darude turn towards him, blocking his face with his wings, and he petted the dragon’s neck in thanks as the light died down.

The Ampharos had changed, just like Cynthia’s Garchomp and Altaria did. The Ampharos had a flowing, ivory mane behind it, and its tail was covered in billowing wisps of white fur. It seemed to wince for a moment, hesitating as it took a moment to take deep breaths, and Raihan’s amazement faded to concern as the Mega Ampharos steadied itself. Volkner noticed, too, and hurried towards it, petting its neck gently.

“You alright?” He asked, as Raihan and Darude shared worried looks. 

Did Mega Evolving hurt _that much?_

The Mega Ampharos nodded, cooing softly as it rubbed its snout against Volkner’s cheek, and the man laughed softly, snuggling back against it. 

“Tell me right away if anything feels wrong, okay?” He said gently, and Raihan smiled softly at the way Volkner’s voice softened with love for his partner. The blond patted his Mega Ampharos again, and hurried back to his place at the other end of the pitch, giving Raihan a little smile. “Sorry, it’s our first time Mega Evolving together.”

“I… I see.” Raihan said. “Looks like it’s holding up well.”

“Yeah, she’s a strong girl. Still pretty young, so I know she can take it.” Volkner replied, “For fairness’ sake, I’ll tell you that Mega Ampharos is an Electric/Dragon type.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. 

Volkner gave him a little grin. “I wanted to battle you as equals. This is how I will do that.”

“That’s fine by me.” Raihan nodded, “Let’s go, Darude! Use Sandstorm!”

“Cotton Guard!” Volkner ordered, and his Ampharos stanced up, concentrating hard as her fluff grew larger. Darude threw his head back with a cry, summoning a sandstorm that kicked up around them with a powerful how. The two trainers held their hands up to shield their eyes as the two Pokémon faced off each other determinedly.

“Haircut time!” Raihan called, “Dragon Claw!”

Darude shot forward, claws glowing a draconic violet, but Volkner grinned. “You’re not getting anywhere _near _us, Raihan. Mega Ampharos, use Dragon Pulse!”

Darude’s eyes widened, and he skidded to a halt as the Mega Ampharos let out a blast of draconic rage from its mouth. 

“Get outta there!” Raihan called, and Darude skidded along the ground, made unsteady with the sandstorm, but he managed to dodge underneath the beam of draconic light, hissing angrily as he shot off to the side. “She’ll tank your Earthquake, you have to get rid of her Cotton Guard!”

“Another Cotton Guard, Mega Ampharos!” Volkner ordered, and Darude looked at Raihan, wide-eyed. 

“No choice, D! Interrupt her with Earthquake!” Raihan ordered, and Darude threw his head up in the air, letting out a powerful cry as he concentrated, summoning an earthquake beneath their feet. 

“Mega Ampharos, hold tight and use Dragon Pulse!” Volkner called, and Raihan hissed as the earthquake struck them. The Mega Ampharos propped herself up on her fluff with a shaky gait, but seemed relatively nonplussed as she aimed at the concentrating Darude.

“Darude!” Raihan called, and the Flygon stopped himself in the middle of summoning an earthquake to dart aside. Still, the Mega Ampharos’s Dragon Pulse caught him on his wing, and Darude came tumbling down with a cry.

“Now’s your chance, Mega Ampharos!” Volkner called, “Use Power Gem, and melt the sand!”

“Shit!” Raihan hissed, “He’s got the same idea I had, huh.” He shook his head. “Darude, you okay?”

The Flygon called out his affirmation as the Mega Ampharos cried out, summoning crystals around it. 

“Good, start moving around, as fast as you can! Just stay low to the ground!”

Darude began to scuttle around the battle arena. He couldn’t fly, not with his wing damaged by the Dragon Pulse, but he managed to move around the field, avoiding the first Power Gem thrown at him, but the glass shards that fell made Darude stop, wincing as he covered himself with his wings. 

“Darude!” Raihan called.

“Now’s your chance, Mega Ampharos! Dragon Pulse!” Volkner called, and Raihan shook his head as the Mega Ampharos readied herself.

“We’ve got no choice, D! Take her down with you with Earthquake!” Raihan called, and Darude braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut as he summoned an earthquake. The Mega Ampharos jumped and jolted around at the impact, but she held on tight to her fluff, letting loose a powerful pulse of draconic energy from her maw. It hit Darude head-on, and Raihan winced as his Flygon slumped down with a sad sigh, fainted. 

“_Flygon is unable to battle! Mega Ampharos wins!_”

“Damn.” Raihan shook his head, and put Darude back into his Pokéball as the sandstorm died down. Volkner looked at him determinedly. “This is gonna be surprisingly close.”

“I came prepared for you, Raihan.” He held his hand out at Raihan with a small smirk. “Two to go.”

“You…” Raihan shook his head, laughing fondly. “Okay, fine.” He picked up Gooms’s Pokéball from his harness, and held it close. “We gotta hold on, Gooms…” He murmured, and nodded. “Alright, let’s come back, Gooms!”

He tossed her out into the field again, and she straightened up, wincing slightly as her paralysis still ran through her body. Raihan frowned deeply, but she looked at her over her shoulder, giving him a determined little smile.

Raihan met her smile, and he nodded. 

“We’ve got this.” He murmured, and thrust his fist out at Gooms. “Let’s go! Rain Dance!”

Gooms let out a cry, and began to dance again, her routine coming back to her as rain began to pour onto her. Raihan lit up when he saw her sloughing off goo from her body, discharging the electricity paralysing her. 

“That’s it! Good girl!” 

The Mega Ampharos’s fluff sagged slightly, but she didn’t seem to mind, looking at Volkner determinedly. 

“It’s good for us, too.” He said, “Go, hit her with Thunderbolt!”

“Gooms, push her back with Surf!” Raihan called, and Gooms twirled elegantly on one foot, throwing her horns towards the Mega Ampharos. All the water in the rain concentrated into the wave, and the Mega Ampharos’s eyes widened as a large wave came crashing towards it. Gooms leapt aside, dodging the Thunderbolt, and the Mega Ampharos was thrown back closer to Volkner. The blond bit his lip, and he shook his head. 

“Don’t worry about the distance! Dragon Pulse!”

“It’s our turn, Gooms!” Raihan called. “Use Sludge Bomb!”

Gooms jumped out of the way from the Dragon Pulse, grabbing goo from her body and hurling them at the Mega Ampharos at breakneck speed. The Pokémon let out a cry of alarm as they absorbed into its fluff, and Raihan lit up as a sickly violet hue crossed its face.

“Poison!” Volkner gasped. “Mega Ampharos, you alright?”

She cried out, nodding as she struggled to her feet. Raihan nodded to himself, grinning slightly.

“Darude took a chunk out of her already, let’s finish this, Gooms!” Raihan thrust his fist at her. “One more Sludge Bomb!”

“Counter it with Dragon Pulse!” Volkner ordered, and the Mega Ampharos let out a blast of draconic energy from its maw as Gooms hurtled poisonous goo at it—

The two attacks clashed, and an explosion shook the area. Raihan and Volkner shielded their faces as the smoke billowed out past them, and above their heads, Raihan could hear exhaust fans kick in. The smoke cleared, and the two men saw their Pokémon holding each other in a hug, Gooms resting her head on top of the Mega Ampharos’s tuft of head fur. 

Panting softly, Raihan and Volkner met each other’s gazes—

And the Mega Ampharos slid down from Gooms’s arms, landing on the ground on its knees with a defeated sigh as it reverted into its normal form. 

“_Mega Ampharos is unable to battle! Goodra wins!_” The robot declared. “_The winner of this Gym Match is Raihan of Hammerlocke!_”

The crowd burst into cheers, and Volkner’s shoulders slumped, but he was smiling. He looked up to meet Flint’s gaze in the crowd, laughing softly. The redhead gave him a helpless shrug, and Volkner shook his head. 

Gooms looked at Raihan, her eyes welling up with triumphant tears, and Raihan thrust his fists into the air, shouting in delight before he hurried up to her. She gently set the fainted Ampharos down with a gentle pat on her head, before hurrying up to Raihan, hugging him tightly. She lifted him off the ground, the both of them laughing delightedly as she spun him, and when she finally set him down, Raihan pressed a kiss to her snout.

“You did _great, _Gooms.” He said softly, and she cooed happily, holding his hand. Raihan sobered up slightly when he saw Volkner approaching him, a little smile on his face as he held up a velvet tray. “Hey.”

“Hello.” Volkner chuckled, “That was a fantastic battle. As proof of your victory, here’s the Beacon Badge.”

Raihan looked down at the golden badge on the tray, and he looked at Volkner, grinning widely. 

“Thank you.” He said, and picked it up gently from the case. “My first Gym Badge in Sinnoh…”

“I look forward to seeing how the rest of your journey goes, Raihan.” Volkner said, and Raihan beamed at him. Gooms cheered, draping herself on Raihan happily, and the two men burst out laughing. “And your Goodra too, of course. Your whole team.”

“Thank you, really.” Raihan grinned. “I won’t let you—or Sinnoh—down.”


	52. Electric Typing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m guessing you must think I have an electric typing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [there's a spinoff too](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412/)! (heed the warnings.)

Flint insisted on being the one to treat them to dinner that day, and Raihan couldn’t say no, not when his eager grin was making Volkner smile in a way that seemed to light up the room. For now, Raihan had to say goodbye to Volkner, who still had a few more Gym challengers to face that day. After Raihan and Volkner had their teams sorted out in the Pokémon Centre, Raihan watched as Volkner handed Flint a tiny briefcase. 

“Not even this could stop him.” Volkner chuckled, “Tell Cynthia I said thanks. I’ll let the big girl recover for the rest of the day.” 

“Right.” Flint nodded, and pecked Volkner’s cheek quickly before the blond could protest, and the redhead grinned widely when Volkner’s cheeks turned a vivid red. “Love you. See you later.”

“R-right.” The blond nodded stiffly, and turned to Raihan. “I-I’ll… see you later, too.”

“Right.” Raihan gave him a kind smile, and Volkner hurried away, practically _running._ Flint and Raihan shared bemused looks, and the redhead snickered into his fist, gently patting the tiny briefcase Volkner gave him.

“Okay, spill it. I bet you’re curious what this is.” He said, and Raihan nodded eagerly as Flint waved him over to the trainers’ lounge in the Pokémon Centre. They settled down together on a pair of rattan armchairs next to a rattan table on a patio outside in Sunnyshore’s golden light, and Flint set the briefcase down. He gave Raihan a cheeky little grin, and opened it to reveal a glittering Ampharosite, and the Mega Ring that Volkner had used. 

“Oh!” Raihan jumped, “It’s… not Volkner’s?” 

“Nah.” Flint shook his head. “He borrowed a set from Cynthia for whenever you came over to battle him. Said it was something he’d been meaning to try for a long time now, and you gave him the perfect opportunity to use it.”

“Oh, I see…” Raihan looked down at the Mega Ring, and bit his lip as he reverently touched the scratched-up black surface. “Looks pretty beat up. Has it been around for long?”

“Well, from what I heard from Cynthia, it used to belong to some kid who went around collecting Mega Energy.” Flint frowned, taking the black Mega Ring out of the case to inspect it. “She got this from her old friend who’s the Pokémon Professor in Kalos.”

“Pokémon Professor…” Raihan hummed. “Professor Sycamore?” He ventured, and Flint shrugged. “That’s interesting.” 

“Yeah, well, my favourite part about this thing is that it used to be evidence for a criminal case.” Flint snickered, and Raihan’s eyes widened at him. “Of course, now it’s just a regular old bracelet that holds a Key Stone… so don’t sweat it, we’re all good here.”

“Huh.” Raihan watched as Flint gently set the Mega Ring back into its place next to the Ampharosite. “I heard it… hurts.” He said, reaching down to touch the Ampharosite this time, and he jumped when he realised that it was slightly warm to the touch. “Volkner’s Ampharos looked like she was in pain earlier.”

“Yeah, I heard it hurts, too. It takes an insane amount of trust between Pokémon and Trainer to trigger Mega Evolution.” Flint frowned. “I do have some Pokémon that are capable of Mega Evolving, but I personally don’t want to use it.” 

“How do you feel about Volkner using it?” Raihan asked, and Flint shrugged. 

“It worked between him and his Ampharos, didn’t it? It’s not on me to tell Volkner how to battle, and if his Ampharos loved him enough to let it happen, who am I to say that he was in the wrong for that?” Flint gave him a little grin. “We can disagree on how we do things, but we’ll have each other’s backs anyway.” 

Raihan looked down at his hands, clenching them softly when he thought about the Lake of Life, and the fact he’d kept it from Leon. 

“Hey, Flint?” He asked, and the redhead cocked his head. “I just wanna ask if there’s been anything… strange about Volkner. At all, if there’s anything.”

“Huh?” Flint blinked at him. “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific, my man’s pretty damn weird on his own.”

Raihan blinked at him for a moment, and laughed fondly, shaking his head. “N-no, I—I mean,” He took a deep breath, and tried again. “Is there anything about Volkner that’s indicative of a secondary typing?”

Flint blinked. “Not that I’m aware of.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, not that I know what to look for. He definitely doesn’t act like a dragon, or anything…”

“How about any Electric-type traits?” Raihan asked, and Flint frowned in thought, humming. 

“Well, I mean… he’s good with technology, but I’d assume that’s something anyone can do, given the right training.” Flint replied. “Other than that, he’s a pretty normal guy. I guess he gets shocked by his Pokémon every now and then when they discharge, but that’s about it.”

Raihan hummed. “Nothing… extreme?”

Flint shook his head. “You’re gonna have to ask him later for more details, but far as I know, Volkner’s a pretty normal guy.” He said. “You looking for other people that have secondary typing, too?”

“Oh, I was just… curious.” Raihan said lamely, and the redhead gave him a little smile. 

“I get it. When news came out about the whole secondary typing thing, I remember Volkner had looked the paper up and read it himself.” He said, “I didn’t—thought it was too long, sorry—but he explained to me that normally, secondary typed people might be found by their awesome achievements.”

“Y-yeah…” Raihan nodded, and Flint gestured at him. 

“Like you and the Mega Salamence.” He grinned, and Raihan’s cheeks darkened at that. “I guess it’s easy to assume that Volkner could have a secondary typing, but honestly, I think his achievements are due to good old hard work.”

Hard work, he said. Raihan blinked at him, and Flint laughed softly, looking down at his hand. 

“We were childhood best friends, and back then, I’d been with him all the time. Volkner’s always been a really, _really _hard worker. When we grew older, I wasn’t _always _there to be with him, and that’s upsetting…” Flint said. “But as much as I could, I did my best to be there for him, like when he juggled college and the gym together. I saw him get licensed as an engineer. Cool as the secondary typing stuff is, being Normal-type isn’t bad too, y’know?”

“I…” Raihan blinked at him. “… Yeah. I get it.”

He found himself simultaneously feeling relieved and disappointed. 

Volkner sounded like an amazing person—and it seemed, all on his own, without a secondary typing. Flint was amazing in his own right too, as a member of the Elite Four, and he didn’t seem to be a secondary-typed person either. 

What did that make Raihan, then?

Raihan _was _the best Gym Leader in Galar, but he had his dragon secondary typing. He was the Duke of Hammerlocke, and lived a life of privilege—not only just in society, but in blood. His vision swam as he looked down at his hands.

Without either of those things, would he be anything?

Would he even _deserve _Leon, if not for this cursed blood in his veins? 

Leon—wonderful, beautiful, _brave _Leon—brilliant and powerful—

Normal-type, much like the rest of the world. Normal-type, and won Galar’s glory for over ten years through sheer willpower, strength of heart, and the bonds with his Pokémon alone. 

His hands balled into fists in his lap, and he failed to notice Flint looking at him worriedly. The redhead looked down at the Ampharosite in the case, and gently shut it. 

Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to say, he thought. He felt his heart sink at the sight of the younger man’s tight expression, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty. 

Was having a secondary typing really that bad, he wondered.

* * *

The restaurant Flint took Raihan and Volkner to that night was a beef bowl joint called the Meat Dimension, and a tired-looking teenager took their orders while an older staff member poured them a full stein each of dry beer. Flint gave Raihan a sunny grin while the younger man looked at his stein with nothing short of amazement, and Volkner gently eased Raihan into their usual booth at the corner of the restaurant. 

“I don’t usually drink this much beer.” Raihan laughed slightly, swirling the Sinnoh dry beer with mild fondness as Flint took a healthy swig from his stein.

“But you’re Galarian?” Volkner raised an eyebrow at him, but there was a little quirk in the corner of his lips as he took a more restrained sip at his stein. 

“I’m a celebrity.” Raihan blew him a little raspberry, and Volkner laughed into the rim of his stein as Raihan took a sip. “Oh, _wow. _This is _fantastic_.” 

“Yeah, Sinnoh dry beer is the best.” Flint nodded enthusiastically. “Wait until you try the beef bowls. This is the good stuff you don’t get to see from fancy travel blogs.”

“Can’t wait.” Raihan grinned, but quickly sobered up. Flint shared a look with Volkner, and squeezed his hand under the table.

_I know_, Volkner’s nod told Flint soundlessly, and the two men patiently waited for Raihan to say something. It took a little longer than either man had anticipated—their beef bowls and complimentary paper cups of water arrived before Raihan said anything—and for a moment, it was back to lively conversation and a PokéGram post, as Raihan made an update on social media about his dinner, and the company he kept that evening. 

“Oh, I’d better follow you if I wanna see how your journey’s going.” Volkner said, and Raihan nodded, handing over his social media handles while Flint watched them, chewing thoughtfully on a pickled ginger. “Look at that, Cynthia left a comment.”

“She did?” Raihan asked, and Flint head to lean closer to his fiance to see the comment she left.

_@cynthia_official don’t go too hard on the carbs and drinks, Raihan! Get home safe x_

“Boo. Didn’t think she’d be the type to be stingy about _drinks. _The carbs, I get.” Flint pouted, as Volkner laughed, liking her comment. 

“She was helping me train up when I first arrived.” Raihan said, and the two of them looked at him, softening up at the fond smile Raihan wore as he looked at his phone. “I guess this is her being protective…”

Flint and Volkner shared concerned looks. Yesterday, the crowd they’d hauled into Sunnyshore Police Station had been after Raihan, too, and they only knew about them because of Cynthia. Whatever it was she was protecting him from, it was _serious, _and at the back of Flint’s mind, he understood why. After hearing about Raihan, his secondary typing and every which way it made his life a living hell, Flint couldn’t help but feel the way Cynthia did. 

He felt Volkner’s hand squeeze his, and he knew his fiancé felt the same.

Flint _had _to protect Raihan, even after Sunnyshore. 

“Hey, so… I heard from Flint you had something to ask of me?” Volkner suddenly said, and Flint spluttered, choking on a sliver of beef that suddenly went down the wrong way. The blond ignored him as Raihan burst out laughing, and Flint smacked his arm as he quickly downed his cup of water. 

“You’re not gonna help him?” Raihan asked, bemused, and Volkner shrugged.

“He’s my fiancé to live with, not my baby to coddle.” He said, and Flint elbowed him, laughing. 

“Love you too.” He said, and Raihan’s expression seemed to fall at that. The redhead sobered up, and swallowed nervously. “So, uh. Yeah. I told Volkner to anticipate it, sorry. You, uh… wanna get it started?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, and met Volkner’s gaze. “I’m sure you’ve heard about my secondary typing.”

“Yeah, I’ve read about secondary typing. Professor Sonia’s paper, specifically.” Volkner nodded, and Flint watched Raihan carefully as the young man nodded stiffly, gingerly poking at the beef bowl in front of him with his chopsticks. “Really interesting paper. Kinda confirmed something I’d been suspecting back during Worlds, too.”

“Huh?” Flint blinked, and Raihan nodded. “You were suspecting something?”

“Yeah.” Volkner nodded, and took a swig from his beer mug. “The paper described that secondary typed people have extraordinary abilities, right?”

“Do you have any experiences like that?” Raihan asked, and Volkner shook his head.

“Nope. Whenever my team discharges, I really do _feel _it. Hurts like a bitch.” He said, scoffing, and Flint snorted slightly, stealing a pickled ginger off Volkner’s beef bowl. “Thanks, Flint.”

“I gotcha.” Flint raised the piece of ginger, and ate it. Raihan’s gaze softened at that, and Flint was glad he could still somehow cheer the young man up. He had a sinking feeling he’d been treading on Raihan’s feelings since they met, and he _really _didn’t want any hard feelings between them—especially with how much Flint wished he could face Raihan someday in the League. 

“I’m guessing you must think I have an electric typing.” Volkner said, and Raihan’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “Nah, I get it. I wouldn’t blame you, people still kinda get slack-jawed when they hear I helped build Sunnyshore from the ground up.” 

He sighed, and swirled his beer. “But… I know what electric types are like. I’ve lived with them all my life. They _love _electricity. Just soak it right up, no problem. I’m not like that.” He smiled slightly. “Though I _do _know a human who’s pretty much a semiconductor.” 

“What, _really?_” Flint gasped, as Raihan’s eyes widened, too. 

“We met him when we were at Pasio, remember?” Volkner huffed, “That Gym Leader from Kalos—Clemont. He donated the Clemontic Showers around here after Worlds.”

“You’re _kidding _me! That little kid?” Flint blinked. “I thought you two were just _joking!_”

“Wait,” Raihan spoke up, and Volkner peered at him. “Leader Clemont from Kalos has a secondary typing?” 

“Well, I _presume_ he does. The evidence lines up. I bet if he’d gotten himself tested, somehow, he would turn out positive.” Volkner nodded. “When I read Professor Sycamore’s paper on Mega Evolution type changing, in his recommendations, he mentioned the possibility of Mega Energy influencing humans, too. Something about a subject he knew that once acted as a ground for Lumiose Power Plant, transferring hundreds of watts through his body and surviving.” 

Raihan blinked at him, wide-eyed. “A… kid.” He breathed.

“By now, Clemont _isn’t _a child, but I suppose you’re right.” Volkner nodded. “I gave him a call after Professor Sonia’s paper was published, and he thought the same.”

“How’d… he react to it?” Raihan asked uneasily. “Did he have it bad?”

“Not at all.” Volkner gave him a little smile. “In fact, he seemed really happy about it.” 

Raihan blinked at him, and the blond reached forward to pat his free hand, curled in a tight fist on the table. 

“I can’t even begin to understand what it must be like to have a secondary typing, Raihan, but knowing someone like Clemont, like _you, _doesn’t make it sound like it’s completely a bad thing.” He said. “You are capable of achieving amazing things people like Flint and I can’t. That’s something special.”

“I just…” Raihan deflated, and Flint’s gaze softened on him. “I was just… well… I’ve… I’ve had it pretty hard. Others have, and I’m sure Leader Clemont does, too.” He met Volkner’s gaze. “He’s your friend, Volkner, he wouldn’t tell you if he didn’t want you to worry about him.”

Volkner frowned slightly at that, but nodded. “That’s a possibility.”

“It’s… dangerous. No matter what we’re capable of.” Raihan continued shakily. “It’s not worth it.” His other fist clenched tightly around his chopsticks, and Flint and Volkner shared concerned looks. “And I’m not just talking about us. I’m talking about the other people around us, too. I-I’m watching a marriage get torn apart because of secondary typing. I just…”

Flint’s eyes widened as realisation clicked into place.

“Oh, Raihan…” He said softly. “You’re worried you’ll hurt Champion Leon, aren’t you?”

Raihan didn’t reply, and looked down at the table instead. Volkner sighed fondly, and shook his head. 

“You’ll be alright.” The blond said, and Raihan blinked at him. “I believe you’ll be alright.”

“I…” Raihan said dumbly, and Volkner gave him a little smile. 

“You’re strong, Raihan. You started your journey with _me, _and succeeded. I believe that whatever happens, you’ll find a way through it.” He said. “Not to overstep my boundaries, but I’d like to think that Arceus loves you enough to make sure you make your way through it.”

“But…” Raihan hesitated, and shook his head. “Thanks, I guess…”

“Sorry if I’ve disappointed you.” Volkner chuckled softly, and Raihan jumped, shaking his head. “I’m just as Normal-type as the rest of us in here.”

“N-no, nothing wrong with that.” Raihan stammered, “If anything, I’d… there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to be Normal-type too.”

Flint and Volkner shared a look, and Raihan shook his head. “Sorry I brought the whole mood down.” He said, and put a smile on his face. “For real, though, it’s been wonderful to battle you.” He nodded at Flint, “And it’s been great, hanging out with you. You’re a real natural at vlogging.” 

Flint gave him a little grin and a shrug, and Volkner patted Raihan’s hand.

“Just let us know if you need any help, okay? Flint will try his best to help you out.” Volkner said, and Flint burst out laughing.

“Wow! Just me?”

“Not like I can just _leave _Sunnyshore, you know.” Volkner rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He gave Raihan a little wink, and the younger man lit up a little more. “We’ve got your back, too.”

“Thanks.” Raihan sighed, wiping at his eye, and neither Flint nor Volkner said anything about it. “Really, I… I mean it.”


	53. A Different Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have some news about the Lake of Life. We found a prospective site.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early update as a big thank-you for 1k (!!) kudos on the [original secondary typing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22068571)!!! who'd have ever thought we'd spiral this badly, huh? 
> 
> some reminders before we dive in:  
\- calanthe: leon's haxorus  
\- danny: leon's inteleon  
\- achilles: leon's aegislash  
\- red: leon's charizard  
\- charkie: ricki's growlithe  
\- gladiolus: raihan's duraludon  
\- gooms: raihan's goodra  
\- darude: i do not need to tell you who this is  
\- orpheus: steven's metagross  
\- mercury: steven's skarmory

_TWO MONTHS LATER_

“Yes. Thank you. I understand. We’re working on it right now, and it’ll be repaired by next week. I’ll see you then.” 

She watched as Leon nodded at the hologram in front of him, and the stern man on the other side nodded as well. The call cut, and Leon sighed deeply, slumping down in his seat with a tired groan. 

“Fuck,” Leon said, and looked at his watch. “How is it _still _just 10 AM?” He pulled himself up to sit upright, and immediately buried his nose into another set of paperwork, and she sighed pityingly at him.

“Calanthe.” 

The Haxorus jumped, but she quickly reeled herself in, turning to see Danny offering her an Oran berry, perched delicately between his fingertips. 

“Danny.” She nodded once, and accepted his offering, gently pecking it off his hand with her mouth. Calanthe chewed carefully, humming in thought as Danny peered at her with an eagerness he could never quite get rid of, and Calanthe couldn’t help but smile. “Yes. It’s very good, Danny. A perfect choice this time.”

“To tell you the truth, Achilles helped.” Danny mumbled, and Calanthe peered at the Aegislash, currently trying to negotiate with a petulant Red currently hoarding Pecha Berries outside on the balcony. On any normal day, Calanthe would have gotten up to break them apart, but she stopped herself, especially when she saw her trainer’s expression at them. 

“Shouldn’t we calm them down?” Danny asked, cocking his finger. “I can squirt water at Red. He always hates that.”

“No, please don’t.” She said, patting Danny’s side when he made a move to leave. “Dad seems happy to see them, and I’d like him to get all the happiness he can get.”

“About that.” Danny said softly, and Calanthe hummed, “I wonder why Dad is so sad all the time.”

“Ah.” Calanthe sighed, shaking her head. “I’m afraid it’s… a deeply complicated thing.”

“Seeing him like that… also makes me sad.” Danny said, and Calanthe peered at him pityingly. “When I was little, he’d always be the one to cheer me up, and I wish… I wish I could do the same for him.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t give him the one thing he needs the most.” Calanthe said, and gently sat Danny down on the cushion with her. “Raihan isn’t here.”

“How long will he be gone? It’s been a while now, hasn’t it?” Danny asked.

“Well, yes.” Calanthe said, as Achilles finally gave up, phasing one of his arms through Red’s arm to grab a Pecha berry for himself. “I can’t say for how long, though… Patroclus, Sandie, and Rocky miss him terribly, too.”

“I have it!” Achilles declared triumphantly as he came drifting into the office from the balcony, a spluttering Red in tow. “Lady Calanthe, I have brought you the finest from the dragon’s stores!”

“Do _not_ keep calling him that, it’ll get to his head.” Calanthe said, as Red caught up to Achilles, growling in petulance as the Aegislash grandly presented her a perfectly round, perfectly pink Pecha berry. “And perfect as always, Achilles. You always impress me.”

“As is a knight’s duty!” Achilles huffed, and Calanthe snatched the Pecha berry from Achilles’s hand before Red could swipe at it. “Please, enjoy!”

“Oh, _c’mon!_” Red huffed, as Calanthe chewed on it slowly, meeting his gaze with a level, even stare that almost _dared _him to challenge her. “Calanthe! That’s mine! I set all that aside!”

“Come off it, Red, Dad has you out all the time to make up for it, you _poor thing._” She drawled, and Red huffed. They all jumped when they heard Leon’s soft laughter, and the little team of four turned to see their trainer watching them, a simply _beautiful _smile on his lips. “Dad.” Calanthe sighed, and Red seemed to soften up, too, straightening up as Leon approached them.

“What’s this? What’re you all bickering about?” He asked fondly, giving Red scratches under his chin. “You’re getting bullied again, Red?”

“Calanthe’s being a bitch.” Red grumbled, and the Haxorus cackled, sending Danny into a fit of giggles when it brought laughter to Leon, as well. “No! She’s not supposed to be _funny!_”

“He loves me too, Red.” Calanthe said, as Leon reached for her to scratch her under her chin as well. “Love you, Dad.”

“Me too!” Danny, for all his elegance as an Inteleon, seemed to come right back to his Sobble days as he hurried to press his head against Leon’s palm. His trainer laughed, but indulged him with a gentle pet to his head as he requested. 

“Your Majesty, if you please!” Achilles said, though with a bit more sheepishness, and Leon nodded, rewarding Achilles with gentle pats on his shield. 

“I can’t believe this.” Red growled, and dumped himself on top of Leon with a huff, earning him bright laughter from his trainer as Leon struggled to stay upright, though to no avail as Red’s great weight pushed him down to sit with his Pokémon in his office. 

“Red, c’mon! I have to get back to work.” Leon said, and Danny pouted.

“Work again.” The Inteleon sounded like he was whining, but Calanthe and Achilles at least had the sense to not mention it. “It’s making him sad. Red, keep sitting on him.”

“No, I can’t.” Red sighed, and got up when Leon patted his neck. He gave the Charizard one last scratch under his chin, and with a beautiful little smile at his team, Leon went back to work. The Charizard sighed, and the little team of four peered at their trainer as his smile faded away again into a look of concern that marred his brow. “As much as I want to keep him with us, I know I can’t.”

“His Majesty is in deep trouble, is he not?” Achilles asked sadly, and Red nodded. Calanthe frowned, and looked at Red intently. 

“You haven’t told us yet why.” She said. “Explain yourself.”

Red looked at her witheringly, grumbling. “Just because you’re the only girl…” He mumbled, and Calanthe’s gaze at him sharpened. Red withered slightly, and he shook his head. “I don’t know the full details, either, you know.”

“We’ll take what we can get.” Danny said. “Dad asked me to put out _fires _in that lab a while back. I saw the whole place, it was a mess.”

“And I almost fainted.” Achilles deflated. “I could only take pride in that I have protected His Majesty from debris and the Dark Pulse thrown his way, but other than that…”

“I wasn’t even there.” Calanthe hissed, and Red winced. “When I went to Hammerlocke, you lot promised me Dad would be okay. Red, you said _you’d _take care of him.”

“Not exactly _my fault _that some assholes decided to mess Leon up.” Red growled, and they all jumped at the sound of the door opening. The team stanced up suddenly, Achilles taking the front with his shield at the ready, when Ricki’s little Growlithe, Charkie, peered into the room. 

“Oh,” Calanthe said, as the team relaxed, and Leon’s assistant peered into the room with an awkward little smile. “Alright, everyone, as you were.”

Red looked at her witheringly, but Achilles and Danny obeyed her, settling down with a sigh as the Growlithe hung near her trainer, tail wagging as she carefully balanced a tea kettle on her back. 

“Since when did _you _rule the coop?” Red asked, “Last time I checked, _I’m _Leon’s ace.”

“And I’m Dad’s only girl,” Calanthe cooed, “Which means I get to be treated nicely.”

“If it soothes you, Red, I am a gentleman.” Achilles offered as an explanation, and Red gave him a wry look.

“And… well, Calanthe’s my big sis too.” Danny said, and Red pouted as Calanthe looked at him pointedly. “Sorry, Red. I love you too, don’t worry.”

“I know.” Red grumbled, and they heard the sound of Charkie’s tubby paws bounding over to them. “Oh, Arceus.” He sighed.

“Red!” Charkie squealed, bumping her head against his leg, and the other three Pokémon snickered as Red nodded tiredly, gently picking up the Growlithe to keep her from squirming so much she knocked something over, or—Arceus forbid—hurt herself. 

“Charkie, take it easy!” Ricki called, and the Growlithe fell still, looking at Red with a delighted, goofy expression. “Good girl!”

The two humans quickly were lost in deep conversation, and Red peered at Charkie. 

“Hey, Charkie.” He said flatly.

“Will you teach me Flamethrower? Please teach me Flamethrower, pleeease?” Charkie cooed, and Red sighed, shaking his head as he set her down on the cushion next to Calanthe. The Haxorus huffed, and gently pressed her claw down on Charkie’s nape, instantly calming her down as the Growlithe practically _melted _against her with a happy howl. 

“Thanks.” Red mumbled, and he shook his head. “Guess I owe you lot an explanation, huh.”

“It has been far overdue.” Achilles said, and Red winced.

“Yeah, sorry… guess I’d been really worried about some things.” Red sighed, and dropped himself down on the floor, sticking his tongue out slightly in thought. “I miss Gladiolus.”

Calanthe’s expression finally softened on him, and she nodded, sombre. “I miss Gooms.”

“No one will mention Darude?” Achilles said, and Red snickered, while Calanthe rolled her eyes. “The poor young dragon!” The Aegislash gasped, “Then I shall vouch for his deserved feelings of longing, on his honour!”

“Achilles, you’re really kind.” Danny said, and the Aegislash seemed to preen, giving Danny a grandiose bow. 

“My sincerest thanks, dear boy!”

“Anyway.” Red rolled his eyes. “Let’s go back to the beginning. I’m sure you guys know why Raihan, Gladiolus, and the others left, right?”

“To be Champion.” Danny said, “Just like Dad was.”

“That’s right.” Red nodded. “So now, Leon’s left here all alone, and he’s trying to get rid of this rule that humans set up so other Pokémon can’t get into Galar.”

“Why in the _world _would the humans establish such a rule, it is utter _absurdity!_” Achilles huffed, and Red scowled, but nodded. 

“And Leon’s trying his best. He’s doing whatever he can, but people hate him for it.” He sighed. “That’s why we’re here, always out and about now, because Leon was told to stay safe.”

The other three Pokémon’s expressions fell. 

“I don’t know why.” Red snarled, his claws balling into fists. “Ages ago, all of us were on top of everything. We could just bite or snarl at the creeps who dared to try even _touching _Leon, but now…” he sighed, defeated, and his other teammates looked at him sympathetically. “I don’t know the full extent of what’s going on, and I _hate_ it.”

“Oh!” Charkie seemed to jerk awake, and Calanthe looked down at her little captive. “The boss? The boss? I know that story!”

“Huh?” Red blinked at her as she wriggled out from under Calanthe’s claw to stand in the middle of their little group. 

“The story! The story! Ricki talks to me all about it all the time when we’re at home!” She said cheerfully, wagging her tail. “You see, lotsa people got mad at the boss, and at the same time these_ really mean people_ blew up the boss’s lab!”

“It wasn’t Leon’s,” Red grumbled, but was hushed by his teammates. 

“But they were arrested, right?” Danny asked, “I was there. I helped those Machoke carry people into the police van.”

“They got out!” Charkie gasped dramatically. “Ricki was complaining about it the other day. The boss couldn’t find out what they wanted, because they’d broken out… so now, they’re lookin’ for the bad people.” She looked up at Red, tail wagging eagerly. “Did I do good?”

“Actually, yeah.” Red blinked at her, and Charkie bounced up and down in delight. “Even _I _didn’t know that.” He frowned, and his teammates looked at him pityingly. “But what I do know is that Leon’s planning to see Rose again.”

“Rose?” Calanthe hissed, her eyes thinning into slits as Danny shuddered, his hackles raising. Achilles let out a flabbergasted gasp, and his arms fluttered in protest. “What reason does he have to see that _man _again?”

“He needs help running the company. More and more angry people have been showing up, and it looks like this company’s on the fast track to falling apart.” Red said, shaking his head, and Charkie’s joy diminished at seeing her idol look so glum. She squirmed into his side, and he huffed softly, wrapping his tail around the Growlithe as she cuddled against him comfortingly. “He said he has no one to turn to for help, so he feels the need to see him and ask for it.”

“Lord Rose…” Achilles sighed sadly. “While I am grateful that His Lordship gifted me to His Majesty, I cannot bear to think what would happen should they meet again. Nor what would happen if I were to see Briseis again…”

“Briseis?” Charkie echoed, cocking her head.

“A Copperajah.” Danny said, and the Growlithe blinked at him. “She used to belong to Mr. Rose, but as far as I know, she has a different trainer now.”

“Yeah.” Red nodded. “Don’t worry about her, Achilles. She’s currently with Rose’s brother, the last time I heard. You won’t have to deal with the guilt of not liking her back.”

“My friend, you misunderstand, I am not guilty—” Achilles began to explain, when Calanthe spoke over him.

“Isn’t there literally _anyone else _Dad can talk to?” She huffed, “He has _other friends, _surely?”

“Actually, yes.” Red winced when Calanthe looked at him pointedly. “Not like I can tell Leon there’s another freakin’ CEO he can talk to, I don’t even _know _the guy’s name!” Red grumbled, shaking his head. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to tell Leon, but it’s just not _working._”

“Sucks we can’t really talk to Dad like we do with each other…” Danny sighed, and the older Pokémon all turned to look at him. “I wish we can just… talk to him, y’know?”

“That, I’m afraid, is truly impossible.” Achilles said softly, and Danny looked at him pleadingly. “My boy, we are Pokémon. His Majesty is a human. We could never communicate.”

“Still, if there was a way, I’d love to see it.” Red grumbled. “I have… so many things I want to say to Leon.”

“Me too.” Calanthe sighed, and Danny nodded. 

“All of us do.” Danny said. 

Red deflated, but they all jumped when Leon suddenly got up. They all turned to look at their trainer, who gave them a tired little smile. 

“C’mon, guys. We’re off to a meeting in Circhester.” He said, and gestured at his Pokéball harness on the coffee table. “Everyone back in, please.”

“At once, Your Majesty,” Achilles said, even if Leon couldn’t understand him, and as was his wont, was the first into his Pokéball. Danny looked at Calanthe and Red, who nodded at him gently, and the Inteleon reluctantly went into his Pokéball, as well. Calanthe got up, and snuggled against Leon first. 

“Aw, girl.” Leon laughed, though there was a fatigue in the way he sounded that tugged at Red and Calanthe’s hearts. “I know. I’ve missed you too, darlin’.” His Postwick drawl came back sometimes, when he was being affectionate like this, and Red couldn’t help but smile, remembering the way his own words slipped and slid the way Leon’s had back then. Leon pressed a kiss to Calanthe’s snout, and she finally put herself back into her Pokéball. Leon looked at Red, and smiled fondly. “We’re going by Flying Taxi this time, bud. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Red said, knowing full well Leon couldn’t understand his words, but their hearts were in sync enough that he knew Leon would understand his heart. Leon gave him a tired smile, and Red allowed himself to be put into his Pokéball. He looked up through the clear dome of the Pokéball’s lid at Leon as the man sighed shakily, dropping himself onto his couch as Ricki came to sit next to him, bundling Charkie up into her arms with a sad little sound. 

“_Sir… I’m sorry it’s been rough._” She said. “_The boycotts, the walkouts… I’m just… they’re not your fault, not really._”

“_No, Ricki, I think it is._” Leon groaned softly. “_I’m being unreasonable. RND can’t deliver for Spikemuth’s Power Spot, Derbyton’s Power Spot is dying out, and the MC mining sector is falling apart._”

Red felt tears prickling his eyes. “Leon…”

“_I… I should’ve known it was selfish of me to push this hard for change. I should’ve known I’d trample on others._” Leon’s voice wavered, and Red’s eyes widened when he saw Leon press the heels of his hands to his eyes. “_Ricki, I… it’s all my fault. All of this._”

“_You were only doing what you thought was right…_” Ricki said softly. “_I’m sorry I’m not of much help._” 

Leon lowered his hands and gave her a sad little smile. “_It’s okay. We’ll get through this. Do you have any updates about the visitation request I sent to Detective Robin?_”

“_A-ah, yes._” Ricki nodded. “_He said it might take a long time for it to happen, but he’ll do his best. He thinks you will have to be evaluated by your psychiatrist first, though…_” 

“_I’m sure Dr. Grana will find it reasonable._” Leon said, and got up. “_Right. No more sulking. We have work to do, Ricki._”

“_R-right._” She said, and Red heard her put Charkie back into her Pokéball. Leon attached Red’s Pokéball to his harness, and Red finally settled down to rest. 

There _had _to be some way to let Leon know. Surely there was a way to reach out to that young man with the sparkling stole pin, and the loyal, powerful silver Metagross…

* * *

“Achoo!” 

Orpheus was shaken out of his reverie when he heard Steven sneeze. He stood up, turning to see his trainer apologise to the person he was on a call with, and he couldn’t help but smile to himself. 

“Ooh, a sneeze. I haven’t heard one of those in a while.” Mercury’s drawl from the window caught the Metagross’s attention, and Orpheus looked up at one of his oldest friends. The Skarmory gave him a wink, and hopped into the room to perch on top of Orpheus’s back. “You’d think he won’t get sick when he doesn’t even _feel _cold anymore.”

“Don’t be like that.” Orpheus said gently, and Mercury huffed. “You know as well as I do that Stevie doesn’t like his rock typing.” 

“He’s still in denial of it, isn’t he?” Mercury sighed, “Even after all these years… you’d think he’d catch on by now.”

“He has.” Orpheus said, “Though… as you said, he _is _still in denial of it. Even after Arceus’s messenger himself told him… he still refuses to accept it.”

“Arceus’s messenger, huh…” Mercury hummed. “You said it was a Swablu, right?” Orpheus nodded in response, and the Skarmory huffed. “Not a bad choice. Flies right under the radar.”

“Yes, at the time, Stevie hadn’t suspected it.” Orpheus sighed. “Which gave it the perfect opportunity to try and tell him about his rock typing. Of course, that did not bode well for him.”

“Right, right. You said he got shot right into a panic attack and the Swablu had to put him to sleep, right?” Mercury asked, and Orpheus nodded. “Poor Steven… dealing with so much shit.”

“Every day I am so grateful to Arceus that little Cobalt couldn’t understand us.” Orpheus grumbled, and the Skarmory snickered. “Oh, off with you. Don’t you have Cobalt to watch over?”

“He’s currently on Route 104, and has freakin’ _Latios _with him, he’s fine.” Mercury said, but with one stern look from Orpheus, Mercury deflated, hopping back onto the windowsill. “_Fiiine. _I’ll go look for him again and make sure he’s not in any trouble.” He grumbled, and flew off. Orpheus huffed, and made his way closer to Steven, who was nodding in thought as he spoke with a business partner on the other side of the call. Orpheus hummed contentedly when Steven rested his hand on his head, stroking his smooth metal coat unmindfully as he continued to talk.

These days, Orpheus was happy to be out of his Pokéball, lounging about in Steven’s office. This used to be Steven’s father’s, he knew, but now that Devon belonged to Steven, he could do whatever he liked in the office, and that apparently meant that Orpheus could hang out with him to help him feel better when he was stressed out. 

“Yes. That’s right, Sunnyshore City should be enjoying limitless connectivity by the end of the year.” Steven smiled. “Thank you, Leader Volkner. Please let me know if there’s anything else Devon can do to help, I’ll always be on call.”

“_Thanks._” The man on the other side nodded. “_Let’s talk again sometime, Mr. Stone._”

“Of course.” Steven nodded, and the call cut. The silver-haired man sighed, and leaned back in his seat, smiling down at Orpheus. “Hey.” He greeted him softly.

“Stevie.” Orpheus said gently, and the man smiled. 

“You know, when you buzz like that, I sometimes think you’re calling my name.” He murmured, and Orpheus lit up. “Like… those two little sounds, I hear them from you pretty often, so I’m _guessing _it’s my name, kinda like how Eurydice has a special call she uses when she’s trying to catch Wallace’s attention.”

“It’s true.” Orpheus said, and wished with all his heart that Steven could someday understand him. “She does call Wallace by his name, Stevie.”

“Oh, you said it again!” Steven lit up, and Orpheus snuggled close to him. “Aw, bud. I wonder what you call me… _please _don’t call me ‘dad’, that’d be so weird.” He laughed to himself, and Orpheus couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “Oh, Orpheus…” he sighed, but then suddenly his phone rang. Steven’s eyes widened, and he nodded at his Rotom phone, which immediately projected his caller onto a holographic screen in front of him. 

A blonde woman with long hair appeared on the screen, and Orpheus realised he’d seen her before. 

“Cynthia!” Steven breathed, and he looked around his office warily. “I…” He shook his head, and sighed as he relaxed. “Right. What’s up?”

“_You okay?_” Cynthia’s brow furrowed at him in concern, and Steven nodded. 

“I’m fine.” He said, laughing nervously. “Was just… making sure I was alone right now.”

“_Right._” Cynthia nodded. “_I have some news about the Lake of Life._” She said, and Steven’s eyes widened. “_We found a prospective site. Nothing too concrete yet, but Riley’s Lucario found an anomalous pair of stones. We haven’t figured anything out, but I figured you might know something about it if you came to look._” 

“Oh.” Steven’s eyes widened. “You don’t think…” 

Beside him, Orpheus’s eyes widened. The Swablu had mentioned the Lake of Life. It was a secret place, meant for people like Steven—

People with secondary typing. A sanctuary, it’d called it. A safe haven for the children of Arceus that had Its love flowing through their veins. 

“_I called you for two reasons, Steven. One was because I know anomalous stones are right up your alley._” There was a little grin on her lips as she spoke, but it quickly disappeared. “_The other reason was that all the artefacts we found seemed to indicate that this site contains the entrance to the Lake of Life._” 

“Arceus…” Steven breathed. “The cradle of secondary typing.”

“_The _presumed _cradle, but yes._” Cynthia nodded gravely. “_We’re almost done with excavation of the whole site, but the stones are completely uncovered now. Riley’s gone off to look for Raihan for me, so he can come see the stones too._”

“That’s good.” Steven nodded. “I’ll make preparations to fly to Sinnoh immediately.”

“_Sure you’re not too busy?_” Cynthia asked worriedly, and Steven gave her a wry grin. 

“Cynthia, this is far more important.” He said. 

“_What about Wallace?_” Her voice was soft, and Steven deflated. “_He’ll notice that you’re gone, you know._”

“I… I’ll tell him it’s a business trip.” He said, giving her a strained little grin. “I mean, it kinda is.”

“_Steven…_” Cynthia shook her head. “_Fine. Flash that fancy black card of yours, I’ll pick you up at the airport, earliest tomorrow evening?_”

“Afternoon.” Steven said, “I’m sure my Centurion concierge will figure something out.”

Cynthia whistled. “_Fancy._”

Steven laughed sheepishly. “Yeah… I…” he took a shaky breath, and Orpheus looked up at him worriedly. “Do you think the Lake of Life will give us answers?”

“_If you have a secondary typing or not? Probably._” Cynthia said. “_As to what we can do about your typing… that, I’m not sure._”

“What about Cobalt?” Steven murmured. 

“_Let’s… just find out about you, first._” Cynthia said. “_Take care, Steven. I’ll see you tomorrow._”

“Tomorrow.” Steven nodded, and the call cut. He looked down at Orpheus, and gave him a sheepish little smile. “Guess we’re flying to Sinnoh tomorrow, bud.”

“I hope this truly is the right thing to do.” He said, but of course, Steven couldn’t understand him. He watched helplessly as Steven immediately got onto his phone, quickly contacting someone again. Orpheus sighed, and stepped away from his trainer—

Only to jolt in alarm as he felt an immense wave of emotion hit him from beyond the doors of Steven’s office. Orpheus’s eyes widened, and he concentrated his psychic power, shutting his eyes as psychic energy reached out beyond the closed, locked doors. 

Orpheus felt a wave of grief wash over him as he saw the image of Wallace, standing there at the door, hand still stuck hovering over the doorknob. A home-cooked meal hung from a charming little tote bag he carried with his other hand, and Orpheus realised the promise Steven and Wallace made earlier that day—

They were supposed to eat lunch together in Steven’s office. 

Right now, Orpheus could see Wallace’s grief, could feel it as palpable _waves_ of emotion, and Orpheus wished, now more than ever, that his humans could understand him.

Betrayal felt like a buoy floating up and down atop Wallace’s grief, and Orpheus could feel worry and fear beginning to churn the ocean of Wallace’s heart into a violent storm. 

No, he thought, Steven is keeping this from you because he loves you.

The sound of heartbreak was a clap of thunder, and Wallace turned around sharply away from the door. 

No, Orpheus thought, panicked, but there was nothing else he could do as Wallace hurried away. The sea of his emotions ebbed away from Orpheus’s heart, and the skies of his mind calmed down once more. 

_No. _

Orpheus sank to the floor with a sad whine. 

No, no, no.

“Orpheus?” Steven called, and the Metagross turned to see his trainer’s lovely smile at him. “Could you… um, keep this a secret from Wallace’s team, as well? Just in case?”

Too late now, Orpheus thought despairingly. He could only hope that their love would be strong—stronger than the sea of uncertainty between them, and the storms they bring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more notes!
> 
> steven's black card: yes, steven is a [centurion card holder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card). they have those in the pokemon world because i said so. fun fact i think lysandre would have had one as well but i'm not entirely sure 
> 
> briseis, rose's copperajah: named to match achilles the aegislash (actually achilles was named to match her), who was given to leon by rose as an aegislash. by then the team (and leon) very much dislikes rose, and the team had a hard time accepting achilles, but they eventually softened up on him when leon told them it's not achilles's fault... briseis is currently with peony after rose's arrest! the copperajah on his team is briseis, i'd like to think. the other pokemon on rose's team also live with peony! do you ever wonder what happens to pokemon after their trainers are arrested/killed? [here's one example](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412). heed the tags!


	54. The Coal Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “As proof of your victory, this is the Coal Badge.” Roark said, “Wear it with pride.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy holidays! may the next year be better than whatever the hell this last one was.

“_Sorry, Dad, I don’t know where Papa is._” 

Steven frowned to himself, tapping the handle of his suitcase as he looked around the Rustboro Interregional Airport, watching as people walked to and fro, heading to places beyond the horizon of Hoenn. 

“That’s weird.” He muttered. “He hasn’t told you anything?”

“_No._” His son took a deep breath. “_Do you want me to fly over?_”

“No, it’s alright, Cobalt.” Steven sighed. “Just stay on your journey, I’ll ask your Uncle Juan if he’s seen Wallace anywhere. You have Roxanne to beat, right? Train well.”

“_Okay…_” the boy mumbled. Steven felt his heart sink at how _sad _Cobalt sounded. “_Hey, um… Dad, can I tell you something? Just before you go?_”

“Sure thing.” Steven said gently, and he checked his wristwatch. He had time to kill, anyway. 

“_I don’t know how to tell Papa that I, um… I couldn’t swim again yesterday._”

“What?” Steven’s eyes widened, and he felt his blood go cold. 

“_I-I’m okay! I promise! Latios was with me when I fell into the water… Mr. Briney, I think? He was there too—or at least _somebody_ was, and they saved me._” Cobalt explained. “_I just—I like swimming with Papa, even if you can’t._”

Steven felt emotion prickling the corners of his eyes, and he dropped himself down onto the bench he was standing next to, nodding. 

“Y-yeah?”

“_And I—I don’t wanna forget how to swim. I don’t wanna leave Papa alone in the water, I—I like Water Pokémon, and how pretty the seafloor is._” Cobalt hiccupped, and Steven felt his heart shatter at the sound of it. “_But yesterday, I got so scared, I thought… I thought I’d drown. Dad, why is this happening to me?_”

Steven remembered when he was Cobalt’s age now, when he, too, began to fear water as it only ever seemed to engulf him whole, stealing away his breath as he sank into its depths like a stone. 

“I don’t… I don’t know.” 

“_What’s gonna happen to me?_” Cobalt asked softly. 

Steven’s grip went white-knuckled on his phone.

“I don’t know, baby, but I’m going to try and fix it.” He said, “I promise, everything’s gonna be alright.”

“_In Sinnoh?_” Cobalt asked, and Steven hummed. “_What’s… over there?_”

“A big discovery.” Steven replied, “I’m helping out as part of a business trip. Hopefully, we’ll find a solution to what’s wrong with us.”

“_Us? Dad, you have it too?_” Cobalt asked, and Steven winced. “_Is that—is that why you can’t swim, too?_”

“Y-yeah.” Steven sighed. Oh, he loved his son, but Cobalt was definitely _very _sharp-witted. The boy had the makings of a Champion—Norman’s kid better watch out, he thought. “So that’s why I have to go to Sinnoh today.”

“_Pelipper Airways flight JL 223 is now boarding at Gate 4. Passengers bound for Jubilife City, Sinnoh, please head to Gate 4._”

Steven jumped. “Cobalt, I have to go.”

“_R-right._” Cobalt replied. “_Take care, Dad. Have a safe trip._”

“Take care too.” Steven replied. “Let me know right away when you’ve made contact with your Papa, okay?”

“_Okay._” Cobalt replied. “_Love you._”

“I love you too.” Steven sighed, and he hung up. He ran his hand down his face, and felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Cobalt, too… this is what I was most scared of.” He shook his head. “Wallace… what am I going to do?”

He jumped when he saw a familiar green scarf pass him by. and Steven whirled around, feeling his heart clog up his throat. 

“Wallace?” He breathed, but there was no one there. Steven bit his lip, and he pressed his hand to his heart. “There’s no way.” He muttered. “There’s… no way… right?”

* * *

“Mega Tyranitar is unable to battle! Duraludon wins! The winner of this match is Raihan of Hammerlocke!” 

Raihan lit up, and he hurried forward to pull his Duraludon into a tight, delighted hug.

“You did it, Gladiolus!” he cheered, as the Duraludon held him gently, looking proud of himself despite the scuffs on his metal coat from the sandstorm. Roark laughed helplessly, shaking his head as he shrugged at his pouting Tyranitar, who had shifted back to its regular form, refusing to stand up from his spot. 

“Chin up, buddy.” Roark laughed softly, looking at Raihan as he cuddled with his Duraludon. “He had the type advantage, after all.”

The Tyranitar huffed, but buried his face into Roark’s chest. The young man huffed fondly, patting its head gently before he put it back into his Pokéball. Raihan put Gladiolus into his Pokéball too, and he beamed at Roark as the young man straightened up. 

“That was a wonderful battle, Raihan.” He said, holding his hand out for the young man to shake. “Cynthia’s high hopes on you mean business.”

“Thanks.” Raihan grinned, and they turned to see one of Roark’s Gym Trainers approach them, smiling kindly as they held up a velvet-lined tray with a badge on it. 

“As proof of your victory, this is the Coal Badge.” Roark said, “Wear it with pride.”

“Thank you.” Raihan nodded, and gently took it from the tray. “That was a really fun battle.” 

“It really was.” Roark chuckled, and they looked up at the crowd of starry-eyed children, all holding onto their Sinnohan starters. “And you’ve earned yourself _several _fans, I think.”

Unlike the battle Raihan had with Volkner in Sunnyshore, the battle he had with Roark in Oreburgh was something more of a quieter affair. Since Roark’s Gym was the one that new trainers took on first, there was a much smaller crowd of fans there. Instead, Raihan found himself battling in front of a crowd of young gym circuit challengers, all with stars in their eyes as they looked up at Raihan chatting pleasantly with Roark as he got the redhead’s consent to stream their battle. Raihan even agreed on waiting for Roark to finish all his Gym battles that day, content on watching as the young man faced young trainer after young trainer, giving them advice regardless of how the battle turned out.

It gave Raihan renewed respect for Milo, and what he did in his Gym. As the first Gym in the Galarian circuit, Raihan was sure that Milo would be faced with the same duty as Roark did, and he knew that Milo’s golden heart was utterly _perfect _for first-time challengers. Roark was just as kind, firm when necessary, and the pointers he gave were always useful for the trainer hearing it. 

Raihan shrugged, looking at the children looking at Roark with utter _awe _in their eyes, and he grinned. “You too, you know.” He snickered, elbowing Roark lightly. 

“I suppose so.” Roark’s cheeks turned pink, and Raihan laughed, patting his shoulder. “Oh, well. I still have to close the Gym for the day.”

“No problem.” Raihan nodded. “Wanna head to the Pokémon Centre together?”

“Oh, if that’s no problem with you!” Roark nodded, “I do need to meet someone there, anyway.”

“Really?” Raihan blinked, cocking his head. “Who?”

“An old family friend.” The redhead gave him a little smile. “I have to give this Tyranitarite and this Mega Ring back.”

Raihan blinked at the Mega Ring, and finally realised why it looked familiar. 

“Hey, wait a sec,” He began, and Roark cocked his head at him. “Isn’t that… Cynthia’s?”

“Yes.” Roark nodded, “She let us Gym Leaders borrow Mega Stones and the Mega Ring if we wanted to use them to battle you.” He gave Raihan a sheepish little grin, as the taller man gave him a wide grin. “I saw your battle against Volkner in Sunnyshore, and I got eager to try it. My Tyranitar and I practiced Mega Evolving a lot together before you arrived, but I guess that wasn’t enough.”

“It was down to the wire, y’know.” Raihan huffed, and Roark laughed shyly.

“Thank you.” He said, and gestured for the door. “Could you wait for me in the lobby? Closing up won't take too long, I promise, so I’ll meet you there. After that, we can head to the Pokémon Centre together.”

“And dinner, later.” Raihan said, and Roark blinked at him in surprise. “Hey, I had dinner with Flint and Volkner in Sunnyshore and had a lot of fun. I wanna get to know you, too. Maybe learn a thing or two.” He cocked his head at Roark, and the redhead finally loosened up, nodding.

“Oh, alright.” He huffed, “I’m not used to this, sorry.”

“It’s no problem.” Raihan gave him a mock salute, grinning. “Call it my thanks for a fun battle. I’ll see you in the lobby!”

* * *

There was an oddly-dressed man in the Pokémon Centre lobby, Raihan thought, as he and Roark stepped into the Oreburgh Pokémon Centre. He was in a blue suit jacket on top of a black turtleneck, and wore an impressive blue hat, but what caught Raihan’s attention was the golden necklace the man wore. He was sitting at a table for three off to the side, a half-empty glass of soda with a metal straw next to his arm as he scrolled through his phone with a frown. Roark seemed to recognise him, lighting up as he waved at the man delightedly.

“Riley, hello!” He greeted, and the man in the blue suit and hat looked up from his phone to look at them. A smile crossed his face, and he cocked his head in greeting as he gave Roark a small wave. “You just missed the battle.”

“I’d been busy, sorry.” The man—Riley, presumably—replied, and peered at Raihan. “Ah, and you must be Raihan.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Raihan nodded, and Riley tipped his hat at him. “Mr. Riley, was it? Cynthia mentioned a Riley before.” 

“Yes, that would be me.” Riley nodded, and Raihan’s eyes widened as the man chuckled softly. He turned to Roark, cocking his head. “Are you two here to have your teams looked at?”

“Oh, right.” Roark nodded, and he turned to Raihan. “We should hand our teams over to Nurse Joy.” He said, and jumped when the redhead woman strode up to them, holding a Pokéball in her hands. “Nurse Joy!”

“Leader Roark, hello!” She greeted, “Are you done with your Gym for the day?”

“Yes, I am.” Roark nodded, and gestured at Raihan. “He would like to have his team looked at, as well, please.”

“Of course.” The young woman nodded, giving him a bow, but then turned to Riley, smiling. “Mr. Riley, your Lucario has fully recovered. Thank you for coming!” 

“Thank you.” Riley said, and gently took his Pokéball from the young woman. Roark and Raihan handed their holsters to Nurse Joy, who quickly hurried away. “Please, do take a seat.” Riley gestured at the seats with him, and Roark and Raihan sat down. The redhead set a familiar briefcase down on the table, sliding it towards Riley with a little sigh. “Oh, is this…”

“Yes, it’s the Tyranitarite.” Roark said, and gestured at Raihan, “It wasn’t enough to beat him.”

“I do think the point was to challenge him, Roark,” Riley said bemusedly, but opened the briefcase to look at the Tyranitarite, and the Mega Ring. “Ah, Cynthia will want this back soon.” He looked at Raihan, and cocked his head. “Where do you plan on going next?” He asked, and Raihan hummed, cocking his head. 

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure yet.” He said, and Riley nodded, shutting the briefcase. “I was going to ask Roark for any ideas during dinner.”

“Speaking of which,” Roark said, “Riley, would you like to join us?” He asked, “Since you’re here and all.”

“Why not?” Riley said, and peered at Raihan, smiling knowingly. “In fact, I do have something to tell Duke Raihan here, a message from Cynthia.”

“Huh? Couldn’t she just have messaged me?” Raihan blinked at him, but Nurse Joy returned, holding up Roark’s and Raihan’s Pokéball harnesses. 

“Your Pokémon have fully recovered.” She said pleasantly. “Thanks for coming!” 

“Thanks.” Raihan nodded, as the two trainers took their teams from her. She gave them one last bow, and hurried away. Raihan turned back to look at Riley, and gave him an uneasy little grin. “Alright, let’s hear you out, Riley, but first,” he gave Roark a little grin. “What do you feel like having for dinner tonight?”

* * *

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried PokéGram before.” Roark said, squinting at his phone as Raihan helped him set up an account. 

“It’s super easy,” Raihan said past a mouthful of noodles, and Riley huffed into the rim of his stein of Sinnohan Dry. “You just post pictures every now and then, you can ask one of your Gym Trainers for help, if you’re not sure how to make it artsy.” 

“Yeah, but what’s it _for?_” Roark frowned, “Oh, Volkner. Is that—is that Volkner? Why does he have a blue checkmark next to his name?”

Raihan laughed into his hand fondly. “The blue checkmark means that the account is verified, that that is, in fact, Volkner’s PokéGram account. Cynthia has one, too.”

“Oh, you have one.” Roark nodded. “I suppose I’ll have to get one, as well…”

“Yeah, you apply for that, or I guess, I could send an email to PokéGram for you…” Raihan hummed. “Anyway, the point of it is so that you can help promote your Gym and the Oreburgh Mine, if you want to.” 

“Really?” Roark hummed. “That sounds like a good idea.” He nodded, and looked at Riley. “Do you have a PokéGram, Riley?” 

“Cynthia literally forced my new phone on me.” He said, waving a smartphone in the air. “She said my old phone was something people used to turn the TV on, and I told her that it _did _have that feature.”

“Oh, man.” Raihan laughed, and Roark held back his own snickers. “Cynthia was right to give you a new phone, sounds like.”

“My old phone was working fine.” Riley huffed, but set his phone down on the table. “Anyway, no, I don’t have a PokéGram. I’m not much for social media, since I travel a lot with Anubis.”

Anubis the Lucario sat with them in the booth they were in, chewing happily on a Pokémon treat Riley bought him. Raihan hummed, and gestured at the Lucario. 

“You know, lots of people think Lucario’s plenty cute. You could get serious clout with Anubis, I think.”

“I… prefer to stay private.” Riley said awkwardly, turning pink. “I’ll have to decline.”

Raihan shrugged, but gave him a smile. 

“I’ll give it a try.” Roark said. “Thanks for pointing it out, Raihan.”

“Yeah, no prob.” Raihan grinned. “Actually, you might wanna try following Steven Stone’s account, too. Should give you some ideas on how to take artsy pictures of rocks.” 

“Steven Stone?” Roark echoed, “Like, the former Champion of Hoenn?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, “You’re gonna love it. There’s more pictures of rocks there than of his face. If you wanted to see his face, you’d have to try his husband’s account.” He laughed fondly, but then he sobered up when he thought of the man. 

“Raihan?” Roark asked, but Riley seemed to sense something, sitting up a little bit straighter. 

“I think it’s about time I tell you what Cynthia wanted to say.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “We found a prospective site for the Lake of Life. Cynthia asked me to find you, so I could take you there.”

Raihan’s eyes widened. “The… Lake of Life.”

“Oh, you mentioned that before.” Roark nodded, “That’s your master’s thesis, right?”

“Yeah.” Riley nodded, and looked at Raihan meaningfully. “We head out tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’d want to see it too.”

“I do.” Raihan said, nodding nervously, and Roark looked at him worriedly.

“Are you okay, Raihan?” He asked, and Raihan gave him an uneasy little smile. 

“Yeah, I’m just fine.” He said. “Thanks for worrying about me.”

Roark looked at Riley, and the older man shook his head. The redhead frowned, but let it be. 

A long moment of awkward silence passed them by, and Roark decided to try alleviating the tension. “By the way,” he said, and pointed at Anubis. “I think that’s his third treat tonight. Weren’t you watching his weight, Riley?”

“Shit!” The man hissed, and the Lucario began to snicker. Raihan couldn’t help but laugh, too, and Roark gave him a meaningful smile when their gazes met. 

“Good luck, Raihan.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him in surprise for a moment, before softening up, smiling back at the redhead. “I hope things go well in your travels.”

“Thanks.” Raihan said gently, and watched as Riley tried to wrestle a bone treat from Anubis’s mouth. “I hope so too.”

* * *

The Lake of Life dig spot was near the base of Mt. Coronet, at the western side, which was more accessible from Oreburgh City. Riley and Raihan left the Oreburgh Pokémon Centre in the early morning after breakfast with Roark, and Raihan got into the front passenger seat in a familiar four-wheel drive next to Riley, who got into the driver’s seat with a tired little huff.

“I think the last time I saw this car was in the garage at Cynthia’s manor.” Raihan grinned, as Riley shrugged casually, starting the engine. 

“This _is_ Cynthia’s. She uses it on archaeological digs, since it drives pretty well on rough terrain, which we will get into.” He gestured at Raihan. “Please buckle yourself in.”

“Oh, right.” Raihan nodded, and did as he was told. He peered out at Oreburgh as Riley began to drive out of the city, making a right at Route 208, where Raihan had camped a few nights before reaching Oreburgh. “So… about the Lake of Life.” Riley hummed in acknowledgement. “Roark said you were studying about it?”

“Yes.” Riley nodded. “Initially, we thought it to be the origin of the Aura phenomenon in humans.” He said, and Raihan cocked his head at him. The man grinned slightly, and gestured at Anubis’s Pokéball, currently mounted on a special Pokéball holder on the dashboard of the car. “Have you read the Pokédex entry on Lucario?”

“Um, no.” Raihan admitted, and the man chuckled.

“Well, you see, Lucario can concentrate its mental energy into a wave, called an Aura. That Aura is what allows Lucario to see into the hearts of others, though it is not a Psychic type.” 

“Oh, wow.” Raihan breathed. 

“And some humans are able to sense that Aura as well.” Riley continued, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “Our initial theory about the Lake of Life had been that the Lake of Life was the origin of the human use of Aura, but we’ve proven otherwise in the time I worked on this thesis. We’ve since shifted onto the idea that the Lake of Life was for secondary typing, per Professor Sonia’s findings on her study that included you.”

“So, Aura isn’t… secondary typing?” Raihan asked, and Riley shook his head. 

“There was no evidence of genetic predisposition to Aura.” He said, “The ability to sense Aura, for humans, was mostly due to contact with Lucario and Riolu, rather than any form of inherited trait. In fact, I myself experienced that.” He gestured at Anubis’s ball again, and realisation dawned in Raihan. “I can sense Auras, too, and even use Aura.” Riley drove off the road, and Raihan realised they had entered a rough dirt road, heading into the thick foliage at the base of Mt. Coronet. “That’s how I knew to find you in Oreburgh.”

“You… could read my Aura.” Raihan said slowly, and Riley nodded. “Huh. My ex told me that she used to have this uncanny ability to sense things before they happened as a kid. It disappeared when she grew up, but I know she’s always been with her own Lucario.”

“Oh, she must have not been able to train up her ability. Children, after all, are far more receptive to stimuli than adults.” Riley hummed. “But that sounds consistent with other Lucario trainers I’ve met. Leader Korinna of Kalos reported a similar story, too, and she lost her precognitive abilities when she grew up. That’s another proof that Aura is not in the same league as secondary typing.”

“I see.” Raihan nodded, leaning back in his seat as he frowned thoughtfully. “So… there’s some things that people can do that don't have to be attributed to secondary typing?”

“It is highly likely, yes.” Riley said. “In a city off the coast of Johto, Alto Mare, a family of gondoliers is known to be able to commune with only the Eon Pokémon, Latios and Latias. They locally called it a [legendary blessing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857795).”

“Legendary blessing…” Raihan hummed. “So, there would be people that are just,” he made a vague gesture, “Favoured by a Legendary, for some reason?”

“Yes. The current outstanding theory is that individuals with the legendary blessing are enhanced in some aspect by their patron Legendary Pokémon, but it’s not usually a permanent thing, nor is it genetic.” Riley explained, “Of course, I don’t personally believe that only Legendary Pokémon grant blessings.”

“Really?” Raihan blinked, and Riley affectionately patted Anubis’s Pokéball.

“Sometimes, even your most treasured partner can grant you its own gift.” He said gently, and Raihan’s expression softened on him. Riley peered at him, giving him a knowing little smile under the brim of his hat. “Alternative angles, after all, are a requirement in academia.”

“I bet.” Raihan chuckled, and thumbed at his own Pokéball harness, thinking of his own team. He wondered if any of them had rubbed off on him, and he thought of Janus. “Hey, Riley? Do you know anything about the Dragon’s Lullaby?” 

“The Dragon’s Lullaby…” Riley hummed. “No, I don’t think so. It’s not my expertise, but I think Professor Rowan may be able to help you there.”

“I see.” Raihan sighed. “Alright, I’ll go ask him later.”

“Sooner,” Riley said, and gestured ahead of them. Raihan lit up at the sight of fencing, and a makeshift gate that kept traffic out. Further into the fencing was a stone entrance overgrown with foliage, which welcomed the sight into a ruined village further onward. “We’re here.”


	55. The Coming Calamity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There is no way I could ever understand what you’re going through, but at the very least, understand how I _feel._ So, battle me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year! hopefully this year we'll finish this godforsaken story. 
> 
> did you catch rayquaza showing up at the ISS's cameras? you can see the footage [here](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1344671001435488261?s=20)! i wish it mega evolved, but just seeing it was utterly fantastic. what a way to end the year...!

There was a familiar car entering the dig site, and Steven lit up when he saw a familiar orange headband come into view. Unmindful of the stunned looks he was getting, Steven set down the boulder he was carrying to head to Cynthia’s tent, grinning.

“Cynthia,” Steven said, and the blonde looked up from where she was poring over the stratigraphy of the area to see the man peering into her tent. Cynthia blinked at him, and she realised that Steven was missing his usual coat, and that there was a dirt stain on Steven’s cheek. The man had likely been digging for stones himself, and she couldn’t help but smile, gesturing for him to come in. Steven stepped into her tent with a spring in his step that she hadn’t seen in a long time, and she chuckled to herself as she got up, pulling out a tissue from her purse behind her to hand it to Steven. “Oh?”

“You’ve got dirt on your cheek.” She said, and giggled softly when Steven turned pink, and wiped the mess away. “What’s up?”

“Riley’s back.” He said, and Cynthia lit up. “He has Raihan with him.”

“Oh! Let’s go meet them.” She said delightedly, and the two ex-Champions hurried out of her tent to see her car roll into the dig site. Steven wandered from her side for a moment to call his Metagross, who had been helping the crew lift rocks from deeper dig areas. Cynthia stood up straighter when she saw Raihan in the car next to Riley, and she beamed at him as he got out of the car, starry-eyed at the ancient stone arch beyond them. “Raihan!” She called, and Raihan finally noticed her.

“Cynthia!” He cheered, hurrying up to her. Riley got out of the car at a more sedate pace, and he gave her a mock salute, before heading into Professor Rowan’s tent, which was next to Cynthia’s. Raihan pulled Cynthia into a hug, and she hugged him back, sighing happily as she held him close for a moment.

Oh, Raihan was safe. Safe _for now, _but safe, nonetheless. Flint and Riley’s hard work paid off, it seemed.

“Hello, Raihan!” Steven greeted, finally making his way to them, and Raihan pulled away from Cynthia abruptly, staring at the man wide-eyed. Steven blinked at him, and Raihan looked a little conflicted.

Cynthia almost winced—she remembered the last time he and Steven met, and how Cynthia’s reveal of Steven’s plans definitely dashed the younger man’s image of Steven. 

“S-Steven. Hi.” Raihan said awkwardly, and Steven seemed to deflate slightly, rubbing his arm awkwardly. “S-sorry, um. I heard—uh.” 

“Hm?” Steven cocked his head at him, and Raihan bit his lip. 

“I heard about your secondary typing.” He said, and Cynthia watched her old friend’s expression carefully. Steven seemed to clam up, and he shook his head.

“We’re not sure about that yet.” He said stiffly, and Cynthia deflated. “Sorry, I… I suppose I should have mentioned it to you too, shouldn’t I?”

“I heard about it from Cynthia.” Raihan said, and peered at the blonde, who nodded. “So, you, uh, you wanted to see the Lake of Life too, huh.”

“Yes.” Steven nodded, sighing tiredly. “I only arrived at the dig site last night, actually.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “I haven’t been able to see the presumed gate, either.”

“Gate?” Raihan echoed, and he whirled around to look at Cynthia. “There’s a _gate?_”

“_Presumed_ gate, Raihan, please listen.” She huffed, and he gave her a sheepish little grin. “But yes, there’s a pair of large stones further inside the dig site that were tagged as anomalous by Anubis.” Cynthia gestured at the ruined village past the stone arch. “Now that you’re here, though, I feel like we can get started with looking those stones over.” She gestured for the two men to follow her, and together, they began to head into the village, Steven’s Metagross in tow.

Raihan walked alongside Steven, who picked up his coat off his Metagross’s back to shrug it back on. Raihan looked him over, and his gaze dropped down on the pin on Steven’s lapel. “Oh, is that a Key Stone?” He asked, and Steven nodded, giving him a little smile as he unpinned it from his coat to show Raihan the delicate little stone mounted on the stickpin. “Looks… pretty small.”

“Oh, you must’ve seen Volkner and Roark Mega Evolve their Pokémon, right?” Cynthia asked, and Raihan nodded. “I saw your videos on your battles. I’m so proud of you, that’s two badges down!” 

“Oh, two badges already!” Steven lit up, “Well done. You’ll be storming into the League in no time.” 

“Thanks.” Raihan laughed sheepishly, “But uh, they said they borrowed their Mega Ring and Mega Stone from you, Cynthia?”

“Yes.” Cynthia chuckled. “Riley brought it back with him, did he?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “It was like… yay big, and the Key Stone was mounted on this thick black bracelet.”

“Huh?” Steven stopped, and he looked at Cynthia. “You have Alain’s Mega Ring?” He asked, and Cynthia cocked her head at him. 

“I’m not sure,” She shook her head. “I _did _get it from Augustine—um, _Professor Sycamore_—though. A whole set of extra Mega Stones he had, too. He did mention it used to be evidence for a criminal case.” 

“Oh, that _is _Alain’s old Mega Ring.” Steven breathed. “I didn’t know you knew the Professor.” 

“Well, Augustine was a student under Professor Rowan for some time. I happened to be in the lower batch when he was here in Sinnoh. We became close because we both like Gibles, and battling.” She sighed happily, chuckling as she shook her head. “I was at his wedding, you know.”

“I see…” Steven hummed, and they came to a stop when Cynthia stopped in the middle of the ruined village. Steven and Raihan looked up at a pair of white crystalline stones that stood tall in what remained of a central square, a wide berth of grass growing between broken cobblestone spread out around the stones, keeping them far apart from the village that had seemingly sprung up around it. 

“Here they are.” Cynthia said, gesturing at the pillars. “The anomalous stones. There’s no engravings on them or anything, and—_Steven!_” She gasped, when the man strode forward to swipe his finger over the rock, and put it into his mouth. 

Raihan gaped at him, and burst out laughing when Steven looked at her over his shoulder, cocking his head. 

“What?” 

“You _kiss_ your husband with that mouth?” Cynthia yelled, and Steven turned red, looking off to the side as Raihan continued to laugh. 

“I… I don’t normally… um…” He tried to explain himself, but Cynthia couldn’t stop her laughter from spilling out. The three of them dissolved into laughter, and after a while, they sobered up, sighing happily as Cynthia shook her head. 

“Jeez.” She huffed, and Steven gave her a sweet smile. “Well, anything you can tell me about that absolutely revolting display?”

“Well, it’s definitely not halite—salt.” He said, and turned back to the stone, frowning at it. “It has a crystalline structure, but I don’t think it’s quartz, either… maybe calcite? But it wouldn’t have lasted this long if it was…” Steven began to trail off, and Cynthia and Raihan looked at each other, the blonde raising her eyebrow at the younger trainer. Raihan shrugged, and Cynthia stood back as they watched Steven muttering in front of the stones. His Metagross came up to stand next to him, buzzing curiously as Steven continued to think out loud. 

“He _really _likes rocks, doesn’t he?” Raihan asked, and Cynthia sighed exasperatedly. 

“The only thing he likes more is his family.” She said, and Raihan deflated at that. “Thank you for not exploding at him, by the way. He’s… he’s been having a hard time. Last night, he told me that his son—he’s on a journey right now—was starting to show the same signs as Steven had.”

“Steven’s son has the same typing as he does, then.” Raihan frowned, and Cynthia nodded.

“Seems like it.” She replied. “He’s been really distressed about it ever since.” 

Raihan sighed, and watched as the man continued to stare at the stones. “Where’s Wallace?” 

“Well—”

“I am right here.”

Cynthia’s heart shot to her throat, and she and Raihan whirled around to see Wallace standing behind them, a positively _murderous _look on his face. A dark crease lined his brow as he strode past Raihan and Cynthia, making a beeline for Steven. 

A chill shot down Cynthia’s spine, and she turned to see Riley looking at her, his eyes wild with panic. 

_Something’s wrong. _

“Steven!” She called, and Steven jumped, turning around. 

“Cyn—_Wallace?_”

Orpheus darted forward between his trainer and Wallace, and Cynthia felt her heart sink when she heard it—it made a pleading sort of sound, and she heaved a sigh of relief when Wallace simply pressed a gentle hand on the Metagross’s head. 

“You promised.” Wallace said lowly. “_We made a promise, _Steven.”

“I—” Steven shook his head. “Wallace, no, you don’t understand—”

“What _don’t _I understand?” The man snarled. “_How _can I understand when you _won’t tell me?_”

Steven flinched, stepping away from Wallace. 

“You said you’d never want me to ever feel lonely again, but these past few weeks, it’s like I never knew you!” He continued. “We said we’d meet halfway, yet every time I try to catch up, you run away from me.”

Steven looked down at the ground. 

“I feel like if I turn around to look for you, you’ll disappear.” Wallace took a shaky breath. “We said… after Kalos, that was it. No more Legendaries. No more apocalypse, no more secrets. We were past that, Steven.”

Raihan flinched at Wallace’s words, and Leon’s ring felt like a brand burning his skin.

_Leon and I are past keeping secrets. _

“And now you’re here, in Sinnoh, _keeping secrets._” Wallace jabbed a finger at Steven. “I wouldn’t have been this angry, but how in the _hell _could you not tell me that _Cobalt _was as caught up in whatever the hell this is as you are?”

Steven’s eyes widened. “No. He’s—”

“Cobalt_ almost died_, Steven.” Wallace cut him off. “Latios called for me, and I had to drop _everything _I was doing to save him. I didn’t know why he nearly drowned. _He _didn’t know why he nearly drowned—_but you do?_”

“I…”

“Steven’s been in denial of his secondary typing for so long.” Raihan murmured, and Cynthia held his hand with her shaking hand. “Now, he’s paying the price for it.”

“He’s not just _your son, _he’s _ours._” Wallace’s breaths grew shallow, and Raihan felt a shudder tear across him. Cynthia whirled around to look at him, wide-eyed. 

“Raihan?” She asked, but she gasped when his eyes thinned into slits. “Raihan!”

“I feel… like… like that time I met Eternatus on the roof of my castle.” Raihan said faintly. “It’s… overwhelming. Like there’s some… dragon-type influence exerting itself on me.”

“A dragon?” Cynthia blinked, and above them, the sky began to grow dark. “Oh, no.”

“Shit, I… how’d it get so windy? It’s so cold…” Raihan shuddered, dropping to his knees as he wrapped his arms around himself. “C-Cynthia, is there—is there a dragon-type Legendary in Hoenn?”

“D-dragon? I-I, uh…” Cynthia’s eyes widened. “_Rayquaza. _Oh, fuck. It’s getting windy, too.” She bunched her hair into a ponytail, quickly tying it securely as the wind began to kick up. “Raihan, I think you’re sensing Rayquaza’s presence.”

“I… probably am.” Raihan shivered. 

Cynthia shook her head, shrugging off her coat to drape over his shoulders. “You gotta tell me what’s going on.”

“I think…” Raihan struggled to say as Cynthia helped him back onto his feet. “Wallace… might have a legendary blessing.”

“A _what?_”

“Wallace, I didn’t want to hurt you.” Steven said shakily. “I’ve—I’ve terrified you more than enough for a lifetime.”

“Like you’re not scaring me now?” Wallace shot back, and Steven gaped at him. He laughed nervously, shaking his head. “Steven, we have lived through the world’s near end how many times now? _Neither _of those times were as terrifying as thinking of losing my son—of losing _you, _you absolute idiot!”

“I…”

“There is no way I could ever understand what you’re going through, but at the very least, understand how I _feel._” Wallace’s expression sharpened, and he stood back, taking out a Pokéball from his pocket. “So, battle me.”

“Here?” Cynthia hissed. “This is—this is an _archaeological dig site!_”

“Wait,” Raihan said, squeezing her wrist. “Just let them.”

“_What?_”

“Maybe this is the key,” Raihan hissed back, “This might be the way to open the Lake of Life.”

Cynthia gaped at him, but Raihan held her back. 

“I…” Steven hesitated, and looked at Orpheus, who stood to attention in front of him protectively. Steven’s eyes widened. “Orpheus…”

“Oh, Eurydice’s going to fight him…” Cynthia said sadly, and Wallace released his Pokémon. 

“Caesar, come forth!”

“_Caesar?_” Raihan gasped as he and Cynthia gaped as a gorgeous blue Gyarados emerged from Wallace’s Pokéball. It reared up, and the bright sparkle of an orange stone atop a deceivingly delicate circlet on its forehead caught Raihan and Cynthia’s attention.

“Oh, _fuck. _Wallace has a Gyarados.” Raihan breathed.

“And it has a Gyaradosite.” Cynthia said faintly. 

“Herald the coming calamity!” Wallace raised his hand, and Cynthia and Raihan realised the man was wearing a ring with a Key Stone on it. “Caesar, Mega Evolve!”

The Gyarados let out a powerful roar, shaking the very air around them, and Raihan grabbed hold of Cynthia to keep her from falling down as the wind bore down on them with the weight of the world. Caesar was cloaked in a shell of light, and broke free of it with a cry, emerging as a thicker, _angrier _Mega Gyarados. 

“Caesar.” Steven breathed, his eyes prickling, but he nodded, removing his Mega Stickpin from his coat. “[Sparkling stone, give our bond form](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1323282341423325186)!” He called, and pressed his Key Stone against his lips. “Orpheus, Mega Evolve!”

The Metagross transformed, too, in a burst of light, and emerged as a Mega Metagross, letting out a roar of defiance at the Mega Gyarados. 

“Wallace has the type advantage.” Cynthia murmured, and Raihan looked up at her. “Mega Gyarados is a Water/Dark type. This doesn’t look good for Steven.”

Rain began to pour down on them. Raihan shrugged Cynthia’s coat off his shoulders, and draped it over their heads as Wallace threw his hand out at Steven. 

“Use Waterfall!” 

The Mega Gyarados shot forward, covering its body with water as Steven’s expression tightened. 

“Block it off with Zen Headbutt!” He called, and Orpheus’s arms crossed in front of him, a shield of psychic energy shooting forward from his head to dissipate the water to either side of his body. 

“Crunch!” Wallace called, and Steven clicked his tongue, shaking his head. 

“Dodge to the side with Bullet Punch!” He ordered, and Orpheus moved aside just in time as Caesar coiled around, slamming shut his fangs where Orpheus used to be. 

“Stop him with Stone Edge!” 

Caesar flew up into the air again, as Orpheus shot away from him, and with a shudder of its body, the Mega Gyarados summoned pillars of rock that surrounded the Mega Metagross. 

“Orpheus!” Steven called, “Get out with Meteor Mash!”

“Stop running away and _fight us!_” Wallace snarled, “While he’s trapped, Caesar, use Crunch!”

Steven bit his lip as his Mega Metagross managed to punch its way out of its rock prison, sending the boulders tumbling down as Caesar snaked towards him. Fangs materialized above Orpheus’s head, and Steven’s eyes widened.

“Block it off with Zen Headbutt!” 

A sheen of violet appeared over Orpheus’s head, clashing with Caesar’s Crunch, and Wallace shook his head.

“Keep up the pressure! Hit him with more Crunches!”

Orpheus squeezed his eyes shut, protecting himself with his arms from the onslaught of attacks, and Raihan’s eyes widened as Steven could only stand there and stare in shock.

“What the hell,” Raihan said, as Cynthia looked at him, “What the _hell _is Steven doing?”

“It’s like he said,” Cynthia said sadly, “He… doesn’t want to hurt Wallace.”

“_At the cost of his Metagross?_” Raihan snarled, his eyes thinning into slits.

“I’m sure Orpheus understands—”

“There’s a _reason _why that story ended as a tragedy, Cynthia!” Raihan snapped, “I’ve had _enough _of this. I sure as _hell _am not going to stand here and watch as Orpheus gets absolutely decimated just because Steven won’t do anything for it.”

“Raihan…” Cynthia sighed, but the younger trainer ran ahead. 

“Janus, use Sing!” He called, releasing the Swablu into the air as he ran between the husbands, and Raihan felt a chill go down his spine as Wallace’s gaze rested on him. 

Rayquaza’s rage felt like a cold breeze that wrapped around his body. Raihan didn’t understand exactly _how _Wallace even _had _Rayquaza’s blessing, or _why _it was acting _now, _but he understood something, when he met Wallace’s oddly golden-tinted eyes. 

This _wasn’t _Wallace. Not really.

Janus flew above Raihan’s head, and began to sing the Dragon's Lullaby. Caesar seemed to stop, turning to look at the Swablu with surprise, and Orpheus turned to look at him, too, though there was _relief _in the Mega Metagross’s eyes.

“Don’t let it end like this!” Wallace snapped, “Caesar, silence it with Stone Edge!”

The Mega Gyarados seemed to hesitate, but quickly made its decision to obey, howling into the sky as a pillar of rock shot up underneath Janus. The Swablu squawked in shock, and Raihan’s eyes widened—

When Steven shot forward, grabbing hold of the rising pillar of stone to grab the Swablu, pulling him into his arms. Raihan gaped when he saw Steven _take the hit, _and the man crumpled to the ground, coughing softly as the wind and rain suddenly came to a terrifying stop. 

“Steven!” He gasped, hurrying over to him as Orpheus did the same, buzzing in fear while Wallace stared at them, wide-eyed in shock. “Steven, _holy shit—_what the h—”

“I-I’m fine,” Steven said, his voice strained as he sat up shakily. Raihan stared at him as he gave him a withering grin, despite the blood that trickled down the corner of his mouth. “I bit my tongue and it’s kinda bleeding, but otherwise… I’m fine.” 

He looked down at Janus, who was shaking terribly in his hands. 

“I… this is… my Rock-typing.”

“Rock-typing.” Raihan breathed, as Steven stood up, meeting Wallace’s gaze. 

“I’m sorry it had to be like this, Wallace.” He said, voice only slightly trembling. “I’ll tell you the truth. I have a secondary typing, and it seems that I am half Rock-type.”

“Rock-type.” Wallace said faintly, “Is that why…”

“And I think… Cobalt is Rock-type too. Which is why I’m here, trying to find answers.” He said, letting Janus go, and the Swablu flew up unsteadily into the air. “I… I’m so sorry I hid this from you. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Steven…” Wallace seemed to be more like himself again, and Raihan could feel the air around them lift—only for the gold to return to the man’s eyes. “Caesar, use Ice Fang.”

“What—” Raihan began, as Steven’s eyes widened. The Mega Gyarados charged at them with a wild ferociousness, and Raihan yanked Steven aside with him out of the way. “Wallace, what the _hell—_” he shook his head. “Janus, stop him with Sing!” 

“Orpheus, Zen Headbutt!” Steven ordered, and the Mega Metagross shot forward to slam against the Mega Gyarados. It howled angrily, throwing the Mega Metagross aside, and looked up at Janus with the same gold that seemed to tint Wallace’s eyes.

“Waterfall.” Wallace said, and Raihan grit his teeth as the Mega Gyarados shuddered, and charged at Orpheus, who clashed with him with another Zen Headbutt.

“Wallace… this isn’t like you.” Steven said shakily, and Raihan shook his head. 

“Is Wallace in any way connected to Rayquaza?” Raihan asked, and Steven blinked at him in alarm. “Please, I gotta know—I think your husband’s got a legendary blessing!”

“Legendary… blessing.” Steven breathed. “He’s—Wallace is a descendant of ancient Sootopolitans. They’re the only ones who could open the shrine to Rayquaza. You don’t think—”

“Stone Edge.”

Raihan felt the ground under his feet rumble, and his eyes widened when a stone pillar began to rise under his feet. 

“_Oh shit!_” he gasped, pushing Steven back, and the man stumbled towards the crystalline pillars, which began to glow.

Janus suddenly hurried forward, pushing Raihan out of the way with a weak Hurricane, and Raihan had no time to think about the glowing stones when the Stone Edge landed square in Janus’s gut. He felt his ankle land in a bad position underneath him, but the pain that flared up his leg was _nothing _compared to the shock of seeing his Swablu hit directly with a supereffective move. 

“Janus!” Raihan screamed—but then Janus’s body was covered in a burst of light.

“It’s… evolving!” Cynthia gasped delightedly, and Raihan watched as Janus’s body grew larger, his wings growing wider as above him, the image of a moon began to shine. 

Raihan knew that move—he’d seen it on his mother’s Sylveon before.

“Moonblast!” He gasped, as Janus—now an _Altaria_—flew over the pillar of stone, and whirled around to face the Mega Gyarados. “Go, Janus!”

Janus let out a cry, and a powerful beam of light shot forward, slamming into Caesar. The Mega Gyarados let out a shriek, dropping to the ground as Wallace flinched, sinking to the ground on his knees. He held his head, wincing as the Mega Gyarados finally reverted back into its normal form. Orpheus reverted, too, sighing in relief, and Raihan jumped when he saw Janus drop to the ground, having exhausted his energy. 

“Janus,” Raihan began, but when he tried to move, his bad ankle flared up, keeping him stuck in his spot. “_Fuck, _damn it…”

He turned to look at Steven—only to realise the man was gone. Raihan’s eyes widened, and he gaped at the stones, which were still glowing with a white light. “Steven?”

“Wallace!” Raihan heard Cynthia call, and he turned to see the blonde had approached Wallace, helping him sit up. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Cynthia?” Wallace muttered. “I… where am I?”

“Um, you’re in Sinnoh.” She said awkwardly, and Wallace shook his head. 

“I _know _I’m in Sinnoh.” He said, and looked over at Raihan, and the state of the dig site they were in. “I… I remember following Steven at the airport, checking in at Oreburgh, but then…” 

“You’re at the Lake of Life dig site.” She said, “We’re currently at the base of Mt. Coronet.”

“What… happened?” Wallace asked slowly, and looked around. “Oh, Caesar! He’s—he’s fainted. I…” He looked up at Orpheus, who approached him with a sad whine. “Orpheus. Where’s… where’s Steven?”

“You beat the shit out of him, and you don’t remember?” Raihan deadpanned from where he was sitting, and Wallace jumped, looking at him. Raihan’s annoyance faded from his expression when he saw the genuine confusion on Wallace’s face. “Oh. Oh, Arceus, _you have no idea_.”

“I… beat him up?” Where—where is he?” Wallace asked, panic steadily rising in his voice. “What did I do? What did—Rayquaza, it…”

“You’re gonna have to tell _us, _Wallace.” Cynthia said, “But I think… that can wait for a minute.” She looked at Raihan. “Raihan, Steven’s… gone.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Raihan frowned. “And Janus fainted too, and I think I busted my ankle falling down from the Stone Edge.”

“No, like… he disappeared.” She said, and Wallace looked up at her, wide-eyed. Cynthia held his hand, squeezing it gently. “He stumbled back between those two glowing rocks and disappeared.”

“What?” Wallace gasped, getting up onto his feet, and Raihan jumped, holding his hands up. 

“Up, up!” He said, and Wallace nodded, picking Raihan up to help him onto his feet. The older man supported Raihan as they made their way to the pair of crystalline stones, but suddenly Orpheus stood between them and the rocks, shaking its head. 

“Orpheus, please.” Wallace said shakily. “Now is not the time. I need to see Steven.”

Orpheus pressed itself against Wallace gently, buzzing sadly. Raihan’s expression fell. 

“I think… it’s trying to tell you that you can’t come in there.”

“No.” Wallace breathed, sinking to the ground again, and Orpheus nodded at him, buzzing sadly. “_No._”

“I’ll… I’ll go.” Raihan said, and Orpheus seemed to agree, lowering itself so Raihan could sit on it. Raihan hoisted himself up onto the Metagross’s back, wincing at the aching protest of his ankle, and he looked back at Wallace pityingly. “I’ll bring him back, I promise.”

“Please.” Wallace said softly, looking at the ground, and Raihan realised he was looking at his ring—the Mega Ring, and the wedding ring right underneath it. “Please, bring Steven back to me.”

“I will.” Raihan nodded, and he patted Orpheus gently. “Let’s go.”

The Metagross turned to look at the stone pillars, and Raihan took a shaky breath as the Metagross strode towards them. A bright light engulfed him, and the next thing Wallace and Cynthia knew, Raihan and Steven’s Metagross were gone.

Cynthia looked at Wallace pityingly as he sat there, unmindful of the dirt and mud staining his white pants. She looked at Caesar and Janus, and she lit up when she saw Riley and Anubis approaching them. Riley gave her a thumbs-up, gesturing at the two fainted Pokémon, and she nodded, mouthing a _‘thank you’_ at him before turning back to Wallace.

“He’s gone again.” Wallace said hollowly, and Cynthia sighed, sitting next to him with a sigh. She let him lean against her, and held him close, stroking his hair tenderly. “Steven’s gone where I can’t follow again.”

“I’m so sorry, Wallace.” She said softly. “He only did this because he wanted to protect you.”

“I…” Wallace bit his lip. “I know. It’s exactly the same as it was back then, when he went to Kalos without telling me.”

“I’m sure it’s not that he doesn’t trust you, but…”

“Sometimes I feel like it _is._” Wallace murmured, “Steven’s never been the confrontational type. He always preferred to hide in his caves or behind his minerals instead of facing difficult conversations. He always needed to be pushed against a dead end before he ever felt the need to dig out.”

Cynthia sighed sadly. “That… sounds about right.”

“There’s no greater irony that our aces are named Orpheus and Eurydice.” Wallace laughed sadly, and Cynthia squeezed his hand again. “I just… I wish he’d trust me more.”

“Me too.” She said softly, and looked back at the glowing crystal pillars. “We’ll sort this all out when they get back, okay?”

“Yeah.” Wallace sighed, and buried his face into the crook of Cynthia’s neck. “Must be nice not to have marital spats, huh?”

“I’ve had my fair share of difficult exes.” Cynthia gave him a not-answer, but she was smiling. “C’mon, take a rest for now. We’ll be right here when they get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [here's the japanese version](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1302603860117090304?s=20) of steven mega evolving orpheus by the way 
> 
> i wrote two (2) [separate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857795) [fics](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412) explaining where wallace's mega ring and mega stone came from because i want to be the change i wanna see. (yes it's lysandre's key stone and mega stone.) they should've given him a mega in the delta episode in oras but gamefreak is full of cowards


	56. The Lake of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Janus told us of a magnificent, glass-like lake in the middle of a field of green.”
> 
> “Crowned with flowers, reflecting the majesty of the Hall of Origin above.”

“Open your eyes, please.”

A polite voice made Raihan’s eyes shoot open to see that the light had died down. A cool breeze passed him by, and he realised he and Orpheus were standing in a gorgeous field of wildflowers, bordered by mysterious mist that surrounded a wide area before them. There was a dirt road ahead of them that led to a distant structure, and Orpheus began to stride towards it. 

“Who was that?” Raihan mumbled, and Orpheus buzzed in surprise.

“That was me.” The voice said from beneath him, and Raihan shouted, jolting as he fell off the Metagross. As if on cue, a Pokéball deployed from Raihan’s harness, and Gladiolus appeared, catching him in the middle of his fall. “Oh! Raihan!”

“You—you talked.” Raihan stammered, as Gladiolus gently helped him back on top of the Metagross. “Oh, _fuck, _you talked.”

“Raihan?” Gladiolus said, and Raihan’s eyes widened at his partner. 

“Gladiolus?” He breathed, and the Duraludon’s eyes welled with tears. 

“_Raihan._” He said—oh, Raihan could hear a _voice, _and it sounded _exactly _like he expected it. Kind and soft, yet with an underlying firmness of steel. “You can understand me.”

“I—I _can._” Raihan gasped, and suddenly his entire _team _deployed themselves into the field.

“Raihan?” Darude—oh, he sounded just like he’d hoped, too—flew up, eyes sparkling in wonder. “Can you hear me?”

“Y-yeah.” Raihan nodded, and Gooms appeared next to him on top of Orpheus, looking at him with stars in her eyes.

“Daddy?” She asked, and Raihan jumped as she held his hands. “Daddy, you can—”

“_Daddy!_” Gibble sobbed, and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh as the Gible deployed in his arms, clinging to him. “Daddy, daddy! You can hear us!”

“My dears, please do not move too much.” Orpheus said, and Gooms gasped softly, sliding off the Metagross’s back with an apologetic look at him. 

“Oh, we’re so sorry.” She apologised, and Raihan sat there in stunned silence as Orpheus graciously accepted his Goodra’s apology. “We were all just—”

“We’re stoked as _shit!_” Darude cheered, and Raihan burst out laughing as Darude cuddled into his cheek, trilling happily. “Oh, this is amazing, there’s so much we wanna talk to you about—”

“Wait, please.” Orpheus said, and Raihan gently pushed Darude away as he looked down at the Metagross pityingly. He petted Orpheus’s head, giving Darude a reassuring smile. “My trainer…”

“That’s right,” Raihan nodded. “We’re here to find Steven, first. Then we can talk, okay?”

“Okay.” His team nodded, and Raihan looked down at Gibble. 

“Okay, baby?” He asked, and Gibble nodded hesitantly. “Thank you.” Raihan nodded, and patted Orpheus’s head. “Let’s keep going. There’s something at the end of this road.”

Orpheus led the rest of Raihan’s team, Gooms and Gladiolus walking behind them hand in hand while Darude flew overhead. Raihan realised they were walking closer to a lake, shrouded in fog, and bordered with bushes of different kinds of flowers. Blooming blue hydrangeas greeted them, bursting open as they approached. 

“Oh, wow…” Raihan breathed. “This place… is _gorgeous_.” He said, and he looked at Gladiolus. “Gladiolus, could you help me down? I wanna see the water.”

“Of course.” Gladiolus let Gooms’s paws go to hold Raihan as he slid off Orpheus’s back. Gibble remained firmly in his hold as he moved, and Gladiolus petted the baby dragon as he helped Raihan straighten up. 

“Wow… what is this place?” Raihan muttered.

“I believe this is the Lake of Life.” Gladiolus said, and Raihan looked at him. “Janus told us of a magnificent, glass-like lake in the middle of a field of green.”

“Crowned with flowers, reflecting the majesty of the Hall of Origin above.” Gooms murmured, and Raihan peered at her. “That’s… what Janus said.”

“Janus knew about this place?” Raihan asked, and his team nodded. Orpheus bobbed in agreement, too. “You knew about it, too?”

“During your Coordinator debut, I had a word with the Swablu.” Orpheus said. “It was—Janus, was it?—that told me about Stevie’s rock typing.”

“So, he really is Rock-type…” Raihan hummed, frowning, and he jumped when the mist lifted somewhat, revealing an island in the middle of the lake. “Oh, look over there.” 

The Pokémon and the human squinted to see across the lake, and Raihan realised that there was a withered, muted brown tree with oddly-shaped branches growing in the middle of the island. His eyes widened when he saw someone sitting underneath it. “Oh, is that—”

“Stevie!” Orpheus gasped, and he looked at Raihan hopefully. “Let’s go see him.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded, and climbed back on top of him with Gladiolus’s help. “Gooms, Gladiolus, you two better get back into your Pokéballs first so you can get across.”

“Okay.” Gooms nodded, and Gladiolus bowed his head. Raihan put the two dragons into their Pokéballs, and looked up at Darude.

“D, you can fly across, right?” 

“Of course!” Darude huffed, “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Raihan huffed, shaking his head fondly as Gibble looked up at the Flygon in awe. 

“Darude’s so full of energy…” she mumbled, and Raihan stroked her gently as Orpheus began to float across the water. 

“He’s just happy.” Raihan hummed. “Are you happy too?”

“Mhm.” Gibble nodded, and buried her face in Raihan’s chest. “I’m happy.”

“That’s good.” Raihan pressed a kiss to Gibble’s head. “Me too.”

Gibble purred affectionately, and Raihan smiled. As they approached the island, Steven stood up, and lit up at the sight of them, waving at Raihan.

“Raihan! It’s good to see you.” He said, as Raihan, Orpheus and Darude came to a stop in front of him. “I was beginning to worry I’d never get out of here…”

“You mean you ended up here?” Raihan blinked, and Steven nodded. “Even though we came in through the same entrance…”

“I think it’s because you have Pokémon with you.” Steven said, “Maybe there’s a different entryway for Pokémon.” He hummed, holding his chin in thought as he looked back up at the tree that he had been sitting under. “Where do you even suppose we are?”

“The Lake of Life.” Raihan said, as he released Gladiolus and Gooms onto the little island. Gladiolus reached up to Raihan, and the young man gave him a grin as he helped Raihan down off Orpheus’s back.

“The Lake of Life.” Steven breathed, turning to look at Raihan with awe. “We’re here. We’re finally… here.”

“Yes.” Orpheus said, and Steven froze, staring wide-eyed at Raihan, who gestured at the Metagross. “Hello, Stevie. It’s wonderful to finally be able to talk to you.”

“Orpheus?” He breathed, and Orpheus nodded hopefully as Steven hurried to him, dropping to his knees in front of his Metagross. “Is that… is that your voice?”

“Yes.” The Metagross sounded winded, too, and Steven let out a small sob as he hugged his Metagross. “_Oh. _How I’ve wished to be able to talk with you like this, Stevie.”

“You call me Stevie.” Steven laughed softly, squeezing closer to Orpheus. “That’s… oh, that’s what Dad used to call me when I was little.”

Raihan shared a smile with his team, and nodded. “Let’s… leave them alone for a sec.” He said, and Gladiolus gently led him away from the two. Raihan’s team gathered around him as Gladiolus led Raihan to the shore, gesturing at the water. 

“Dip your ankle in there, Raihan.” Gladiolus said, and Raihan cocked his head at him. “Janus said that the Lake of Life heals all wounds for Arceus’s children, whatever that meant.”

“I think he meant people with secondary typing.” Gooms said, plopping herself down at the shore, too, and dipped her feet in. “Oh, but this feels… _very _nice.”

“Oh! I wanna try!” Gibble cooed, and she jumped out of Raihan’s arms to sit at the shore with Gooms gleefully. Raihan laughed fondly, and Gladiolus held him steady as he took his shoes and socks off, setting them down behind him before Gladiolus carefully brought him closer to the water. He rolled up his jeans up to his knees, and took a deep breath.

“Hope this works.” Raihan said, wincing as he sat down, and he gingerly dipped his feet into the water. Much to his surprise, the ache in his ankle did indeed abate, and he looked at Gladiolus as the Duraludon sat down with a contented sigh. Beyond them, Darude gleefully dove into the water, splashing around happily. 

“Wow.” Raihan breathed, and Gladiolus hummed. “This is… amazing.”

“It is.” Gladiolus said, “Janus had described the Lake of Life as a sanctuary for people like you and Steven.” Raihan hummed, leaning against Gladiolus’s cool metal coat. “A long time ago, secondary typed humans lived in intense persecution. Some of them were even killed for their secondary typing.”

“Sonia mentioned that, yeah…” Raihan hummed. “That’s why secondary typed people are so rare these days, right? They were almost eradicated?”

“Yes.” Gladiolus nodded. “And so that is why the Lake of Life exists. The village this gate resides in was a sanctuary for secondary typed people, where they could hide away from the world and be safe.” Raihan and Gladiolus watched as Gooms got up from her seat at Darude’s taunting, and she, too, dove into the water. “Of course, Pokémon could enter it too. But this place has always been for humans like you.”

“Humans like me, huh… guess Arceus _did _give a damn about us, after all.” Raihan muttered, and Gladiolus huffed. 

“A long time ago, after all, a few humans took care of Arceus.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “According to Janus, the Lake of Life sprang from the blood of Arceus after it nearly died.”

“The blood of Arceus, huh…” Raihan hummed. “Sounds familiar.”

“Yes, the story of the Power Spots.” Gladiolus agreed. “From the way I see it, I don’t think it is the Lake of Life itself that grants secondary typing.”

“You know what, I think you’re right.” Raihan nodded. “If this place heals secondary typed people, then it can’t _also_ give us secondary typing.”

“No spring of water pours out sweet and bitter water from the same opening.”

Raihan jumped, whirling around to see Steven approaching them. He gave Raihan a kind smile, cocking his head slightly as he sat down next to him at the shore. Orpheus settled down next to him, and Steven gently pressed his hand against his partner’s leg gently. 

“Just an old quote.” Steven hummed, and Raihan nodded dazedly. The older man sighed, leaning back on his hands as he looked out at the water. “I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. So, this place… is for people like us, huh.”

“Yeah.” Raihan replied, looking down at his foot in the water. “I’d wager only people with secondary typing can come in here.”

“Yes.” Orpheus said, and Steven gestured at his Metagross. “According to your Swablu—oh, apologies, _Altaria,_ the Lake of Life was a safe haven only injured secondary typed people could enter.”

“Injured?” Raihan echoed. 

“Apparently, the Lake of Life is like a Pokémon Centre for us.” Steven chuckled. “It’ll only let us in if we’re injured, and Pokémon can only enter if accompanying an injured child of Arceus.”

“Can we go back to calling us secondary typed people, instead?” Raihan grumbled, and Steven laughed softly. 

“Of course.” He sighed, and looked out at the water. “Orpheus told me Wallace tried to come in.”

“Yeah, he was really worried about you.” Raihan said. “Apparently, that entire time, he had no idea what was happening.”

Steven jumped. “What—really?” He looked down at the ground, and heaved a sigh of relief as he pressed his hand to his heart. “So he doesn’t… hate me.”

“Of course he doesn’t.” Raihan shook his head. “If he hated you, why would he have done all that?” He gave Steven a reassuring smile, but turned back to looking out at the water. “We’ll have to sort it out later.” Raihan sighed. “So… Rock-type, huh.”

“Yes.” Steven sighed. “I suppose I can’t escape it any longer.” 

Raihan peered at him, and bit his lip. 

“You know, I got really angry at you about that.” He admitted after a long moment of silence, and Steven blinked at him. “I said… I called you a dick for hiding all this from Wallace, but… I think I understand now.”

Raihan sighed, and pulled out his engagement ring from under his shirt. Steven’s eyes widened at it, and he looked at Raihan. 

“The scariest thing in the world isn’t getting hurt, or even dying…” he said, “It’s… hurting the ones you love, and finding no way of fixing it.”

“Raihan,” Steven said gently, and the younger man peered at him, feeling his eyes prickling. “I don’t want to seem… presumptive, but is it possible… that you’ve been projecting on me and Wallace?”

“I…” Raihan hesitated, and nodded gingerly. “I… guess I was.”

“Raihan,” Steven said fondly, and pulled him close to his side, letting the dragon rest his head on his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“I’m really sorry.” Raihan mumbled. 

“It happens.” Steven hummed. “But you have to remember something very important, Raihan. Every relationship is different. What’s happening to Wallace and me—what _happened _to my family—is not what’s going to happen to you and Leon.”

Steven rubbed Raihan’s arm, as over their heads, Orpheus and Gladiolus shared relieved smiles. 

“Our circumstances are very different.” He sighed softly, and patted Raihan’s arm. “That being said, you’d better be a bit more transparent with Leon than I’d been with Wallace.” He sighed, and Raihan straightened up, giving him a cheeky little grin. “And about that ring… I thought there was no engagement?”

“Please don’t tell anyone.” Raihan said as he hid his ring again, and Steven blinked at him. “Well, you can tell Wallace, I guess.”

The older man laughed softly, shaking his head, and Raihan could still see blood staining his teeth. “Hey, how’s your tongue?” He asked, and Steven jumped, cupping his hand over his mouth. 

“Um, well…” Steven hesitated, “It turns out that while it takes a lot to injure me, when I _do _get injured… well…” He looked off to the side. “I’ve been tasting blood since I got here.”

“_Stevie!_” Orpheus gasped, “Quickly, get in the water!” 

Steven jumped, looking at his Metagross with fear, and Raihan shook his head exasperatedly. 

“Let’s not get too hasty.” He said, getting up. Steven watched him gingerly as he plucked a large leaf off a bush, and rolled it up into a funnel. Raihan made his way over to the water, where Gibble was playing in the shallower portion, and he gave her a smile. “Gibble, could you get me some water?”

“Okay!” The Gible chirped, and scooped up some water into the leaf funnel. She handed it back to him, and when Raihan walked back towards Steven, she followed suit, clinging to his leg. 

“Here.” Raihan said, and Steven took the leaf gingerly. “Drink it up. It should help you out.”

“Thanks.” Steven sighed, and took a sip. “Ooh, it’s a little sweet.”

“Really?” Raihan grinned, dropping himself back down next to Steven. “How’s your cut?”

“It’s…” Steven fell quiet for a moment, thinking. “Still kind of hurts, but I suppose a few more sips should do the trick.” He gave Raihan a little smile. “Thank you, again. Would you mind if Orpheus and I moved a little further away? I’m sure you have a lot of things to talk about with your team.”

“_Yesss!_” Darude hissed, dropping down in front of them happily, and the two humans laughed when water sprayed at them. “Please, please,_ please!_ I’ve been wanting to talk to Raihan since _forever!_”

“I’m sure you have.” Steven chuckled, and finished off his water with a sigh. “Ah. Alright.” He got up, and patted Opheus’s head. “Let’s head somewhere a little more private too, okay?”

“Of course, Stevie.” Orpheus nodded, and the two of them strode off, into the mist that began to thicken around them. Raihan’s expression fell, and he shivered, rubbing his arms as Gladiolus sat closer to him, Gibble cuddling up against his heart. Darude sat at Raihan’s other side, and Gooms hurried up to them to sit in front of him, worry in her eyes at him. 

“Are you alright?” Gladiolus asked, and Raihan nodded, hugging Gibble closer to himself. 

“Okay, first things first,” Raihan gave his team a wide grin. “I’m _beyond _happy to hear from you guys, _finally._”

“Us too!” Gooms cheered, “We’ve wished for this for so long…”

“We’re so glad we can finally talk like this.” Darude sighed, resting his head on top of Raihan’s, and his trainer grinned. “Oh, I’m _actually _getting emotional. This is gross.”

Gooms blew him a raspberry, and Gibble giggled in his arms. 

“You two, please.” Gladiolus sighed, and Raihan laughed. 

“So they always bicker like this, huh.” He said, and Gladiolus nodded. “Ugh, you guys sound exactly like I expected you to. All of you.”

“I’m not sure how that happened.” Gladiolus sighed. “If only Janus were here with us…”

“Oh, speaking of which.” Raihan frowned. “How _did _Janus know about this place? There has to be _some_ explanation…”

“Well, you see,” Gladiolus hummed for a moment, before continuing, “Janus calls himself a messenger of Arceus.”

“Messenger… of Arceus.” Raihan said faintly. “Like… _Arceus _sent him to me?”

“Seems like it.” Gooms nodded, and Raihan looked at her. “He’s known about you from the beginning—he calls you _dragonborn,_ you know.”

“He always talks kinda funny.” Gibble agreed, and Raihan patted her head absentmindedly. “Always choosing fancy words.”

“A real stick up the ass, if you ask me.” Darude stuck his tongue out, and Gooms squirted water at him. “_What?_”

“_Gibble!_” Gooms hissed, and Darude jumped, looking embarrassed. Raihan laughed, shaking his head as Gladiolus sighed exasperatedly. 

“You picked that up from me, didn’t you?” Raihan huffed, scratching him under his chin, and Darude sighed happily, thumping his foot on the ground in contentment. “Jeez. I knew I rubbed off on you.”

“You’ve been nothing but a great influence, thanks.” Darude huffed, “Ever since you picked me up from the nursery, I’ve been so grateful.”

Raihan’s eyes widened, as Darude pulled away to look at him meaningfully. 

“I mean it.” He said, “Thank you, Raihan, for taking care of me all the time. Even _my _dad thinks you’ve been so good to me.”

“Cereus,” Raihan breathed, and Darude nodded.

“He loves you a lot because of that.” He said gently, and reached down to hold Raihan’s hands in his claws. “I… uh… this is embarrassing, but I love you a lot too.”

“Me too!” Gooms cried, throwing herself into Raihan’s arms, and the young man laughed, trying to keep Gibble from being crushed as his two dragons cuddled him. “That day you saved me from all the mean Pokémon in the Lake of Outrage, I… I _knew _you were the one!” 

Darude pulled away as Gooms buried her face into the crook of Raihan’s neck, and his expression softened as he kissed her head gently. Gooms began to cry, and he felt his own eyes prickling.

“I really thought I was gonna die that day… but then you saved me, and now we’re here… and I’m living my dream.” She pulled away, and Raihan thumbed at her eyes, marvelling at how the constellations in them seemed to sparkle brighter in her tears. “I get to dance with you, and I’ve never been so happy.” Gooms sobbed, “Daddy, thank you so much…”

“Aw, Gooms,” Raihan sniffled, wiping at his eyes, too, and Gibble reached up for him. 

“I’m grateful for Daddy, too.” She said, and Raihan looked down at her, stroking her head gently. “I—I got so scared back then… a while back, when you got really sick.”

Raihan’s eyes widened—his last rut. He could finally learn what was wrong with Gibble—he could _help _her.

“We didn’t know what to do.” Gladiolus said gently, leaning on Raihan comfortingly. “It was Gibble’s first time experiencing you in rut, and she was so very worried about you. You were screaming a lot, so she just ran off.”

“I dug through the ground and tore into the tent.” Gibble mumbled, and Raihan nodded. 

“I figured as much.” He chuckled, “We repaired that patch together, remember? You were so apologetic then; I just _knew_ that was you.”

“I’m sorry.” The baby dragon sniffled. “I didn’t… I didn’t want you to be sick and hurting… so I went in. You tried to stop me.”

“I… did?” Raihan blinked. 

“Uh huh. The dragon voice you do.” Gibble said, “The voice that makes big sis and big bro and Gladdie bow their heads to you. That voice tried to stop me.”

“Oh, baby…” Raihan breathed. “I’m… _I _traumatised you.”

“Trau…?” Gibble blinked, and Gooms patted her head. 

“Daddy thinks he hurt you.” She said, and Gibble jumped. 

“No!” She gripped his lapels tightly, and Raihan blinked at her. “No, no! I—I’m not scared of Daddy’s dragon voice!”

“Wh… really?” Raihan breathed. “You’re… you’re not _scared _of me?”

“Janus said that Gibble was awakened by your draconic voice.” Gladiolus said. 

“Awakened?” Raihan echoed, and Darude nodded. 

“Remember when we were watching TV with that pretty lady?” He asked, and Raihan blinked at him blankly. “The—uh, when Gibble hatched.”

“Oh, the ranking tournament.” Raihan nodded. “That’s right, back then… I got angry about Leader Rhodora, and then I used my dragon voice… and she hatched.”

“Yeah!” Gibble nodded. “I wasn’t scared of your voice at all!” He looked back down at her. “I was… I was scared I couldn’t help you.”

“Gibble…” Raihan breathed. 

“So I… I took a green stick from your bag and put it in you.” She said gingerly. “I… I didn’t know what else to do. The little girl… from last time, you helped her with that stick, so I thought I could help you with it too.”

Raihan’s eyes widened. “You gave me GWeez.”

“Yes.” Gladiolus sighed. “Later, if you check the case of the shots, there should be another dose missing.”

“I…” Raihan looked down at Gibble. “Oh, baby… you… you helped me.”

“After that, I didn’t wanna let you go… I was scared you’d get sick again.” Gibble sobbed. “I’m sorry, Daddy, I don’t know what else to do!”

Raihan pulled her into a hug, hushing her softly as he rocked her.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay.” He murmured, stroking her. “I’m fine. I’ll be okay.”

“P-promise?” Gibble sniffled, and Raihan hummed, pressing a kiss to her head. 

“I promise.” He said. “It’s gonna be alright.”

Gibble let out a relieved sob, and hugged him back. 

“See, Raihan?” Gladiolus said gently, and Raihan turned to look at him. “You’re not a terrible trainer at all.”

“Gladiolus.” Raihan sighed, and his oldest friend hugged him tightly. 

“You’ve been nothing but kind to us, Raihan, and we love you for it.” He said. “_I _love you for it.”

“Aw, bud.” Raihan sniffled, “You're gonna make me cry.”

“Then perhaps I shall.” Gladiolus chuckled softly, and held Raihan’s hand. “You are our most beloved trainer, Raihan. We choose to fight by your side, just as you’ve chosen us.”

“Oh!” Gooms said softly, and Darude grinned. 

“You’ve shown us kindness and love.” He said, and Gladiolus smiled at him. Gooms huffed, and sat us straighter. 

“We want nothing more than for you to be happy.” She said. 

“No fair, you changed what he said!” Darude huffed, and Gooms kicked at him again as Raihan laughed, wiping at his eyes. 

“We want you to be happy, because you’ve made _us _so happy, Daddy.” Gibble said, and the two squabbling dragons sobered up, as Gibble cuddled close to Raihan’s heart. “We love you so, _so much._”

“Guys…”

“I have been with you since the moment you were born, Raihan.” Gladiolus said, and Raihan squeezed his hand. “Without question, I would gladly give my life to protect you.”

“Me too.” Darude said. 

“Me too!” Gooms chimed in. 

“When I get big and strong someday,” Gibble said, “Me too.”

Raihan couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks, and he nodded. 

“I love you guys so much.” He said, and held them all close. “I am… I’m so happy to know you love me too.”

They held onto each other for a very long time, and Raihan sighed as he pulled away from his team, sniffling as he wiped at his eyes. 

“Oh, if only everyone back in Galar were here.” He sniffled, and his team nodded sadly. “And Janus, too.” He said. “I… I should thank him, I suppose. For leading us here.”

“Yes, in a way.” Gladiolus said. “I hope that someday Janus will be able to tell you his mission.”

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed, and got up. “Right. We should probably start heading back.”

He heard a loud creaking sound, and he jumped, whirling around to look up at the tree, which had inexplicably leaned down closer to Raihan. 

“Raihan?” He could hear Gladiolus’s voice calling for him, but it sounded so far away. Raihan’s eyes narrowed up at the tree, and they thinned into slits as the tree leaned down closer to him. “Raihan!”

“What… are you?”

_Hello, my child._ The voice of the world echoed in his ears, in his head, and his heart. All around him, like his very being _vibrated _with the sound of awesome might. _How I have longed to see you._

“What?” Raihan breathed, and the world was swallowed by thick fog.


	57. The Hall of Origin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Finally, we meet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy anniversary, the sea between us! it's been a whole ass year since the first upload, and we're.... pretty far from the end, not gonna lie slkjdslkjdsf where i am right now, raihan has just beat gardenia and leon's finished talking with rose, and Boy oh Boy things have been... Difficult. i'm currently on month 5 (or so...) of raihan's journey, by the way! 
> 
> thank you everyone for continuing to follow with this story. it's my first time having written a story for this long, and continuously, too! thank you for sticking with me. it's been a whole ass year, hooly shit! hopefully this year we can finish this godforsaken story ^ q ^;;;

Raihan choked, coughing hard and wincing in pain as he struggled to breathe. A heavy, overwhelming presence cloaked itself around him, and Raihan couldn’t find the strength in him to even get up, and he fell on his back, looking up at the majesty of a golden halo overhead. 

“Wh—” he stammered, but his gaze was held by an amorphous mass, the same muted brown, tinted with blue and pink leaning over him like a massive beast. “I…”

_Raihan, dragonborn._ The voice of the world, beheld in glorious power, made Raihan’s very _soul _tremble, and his eyes, thinned into draconic slits, began to well with tears as the [amorphous mass](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/beta-arceus) formed two rings of blood red—_eyes_, Raihan realised—bordered by red gemstones. 

“What are you?” He breathed, and it felt like all the breath in his lungs rushed away from the intense pressure.

_I am Arceus, God of the world._

Raihan’s eyes widened, as Arceus reared up to show him a massive, terrifying form of wispy, muted brown-blue-pink, and Raihan felt himself tremble, helpless to the God Pokémon’s thrall on him. 

Still, his heart remained his, even if his body was not.

“_Arceus._” He spat.

_Finally, we meet. _Arceus chuckled. _Rayquaza has fulfilled its mission I have given to it._

“So _you _sent Rayquaza to mess us up, didn’t you?” Raihan scowled. “Wallace was firing moves at _us, _too.”

_Yes. It was all by my design, that Rayquaza and its blessed child were to follow you here._

“Never thought you actually existed.” Raihan frowned.

_Were you not told of my messenger, the Altaria?_

“Janus? Yeah.” Raihan growled. “Whatever shit you put him through, Arceus, I won’t forgive you, either.” 

The God’s head cocked. _Oh?_

“You let Rayquaza hurt him.” He said, “Through my friend. You _hurt _him, and forced his evolution.”

_His evolution was for his benefit. I allowed Rayquaza to battle him in order to become stronger._

“You could’ve _killed_ him!” Raihan snarled, struggling against the pressure of the world on his body, and Arceus’s red-ring eyes narrowed, though Raihan had the sinking feeling the God Pokémon was _laughing _at him. 

_I have already punished the wayward sky dragon._ It sounded bemused, and Raihan grit his teeth in anger. _The Altaria learned a fairy’s power, had it not?_

Raihan’s eyes widened. “That’s why Moonblast banished it from Wallace, too.”

_Rayquaza’s blessed child is unharmed. I am of no fault._

“No f—” Raihan cut himself off with a frustrated growl. “You’re the cause of _all _my problems, you overblown dust cloud!”

Arceus’s laughter felt like an earthquake, rattling Raihan to the very core. He winced, though he couldn’t find purchase, stuck to the floor of the Hall of Origin as the God began to walk around, shaking its head. 

_You truly are a feisty one. My dragons are all as rebellious as you are._

“I’m _not _taking that as a compliment.” Raihan scowled. 

_You will take it as you wish. Still, I have the ability to make you bow without much effort._

“Wow, way to go.” Raihan drawled. “Look at you, wasting time on bugs like me.”

_Bugs? You are a child with my love in your veins. You are no mere _bug.

The overwhelming weight of the world lifted off Raihan’s chest, and the vacuum of relief felt like a punch to the gut. He choked again, coughing as he shot forward, sitting up at the negative pressure, and he shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself as he looked around at where he was. The Hall of Origin was just as Cynthia had described to him—a wide, glassy floor that reflected the sky—

“The Lake of Life.” Raihan breathed, and in the reflection far beneath him, he could see the misshapen tree—in the shape of Arceus’s form before him. On the far side of the island, he could see Steven and Orpheus sitting at the shore, tiny specks of darkness in the expanse of white sand, and verdant green grass. On the other side of the lake, Raihan could see his dragons—mercifully fast asleep, and he took a shaky breath. “You put them to sleep.”

_I am not such a cruel master. _

Raihan’s expression tightened as he got up onto his feet. “You could’ve fooled me.” He turned to look at the massive being, both so large and incomprehensible, and yet so distinct, and Raihan frowned, shaking his head. “[You don’t look the way you do in the books](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:493Arceus.png).”

_I am to you how Pokémon see me. _Arceus said. _I am to humans the way Pokémon cannot see me._

“So Normal-type people see you as that… white… Pokémon caged in gold.” Raihan frowned in thought. “And secondary-typed people and Pokémon see you… as _this?_”

_I appear different to each Pokémon. _Arceus’s blue-pink-brown wisps grew closer to Raihan, and he could feel nausea climb up his throat. Raihan shuddered, and a chill went down his spine.

_For instance, dragonborn, to you, I am also a being of ice, and of the fairy._

“You take on the type advantage.” Raihan rubbed his arms as Arceus moved away from him. “Bloody brilliant.”

_I am the singularity. The beginning and end._ Arceus said, turning its head to the sky, and Raihan looked up to see the clouds give way to the expanse of space, the universe stretching out before him. His eyes widened as he could see Rayquaza charging through the vacuum of space, and further beyond that—the emptiness of the void. Red eyes peered back at him, and Raihan shuddered as he fell to his knees. Giratina slithered out of the void, and beyond the void were the golden rings of Arceus’s eminence, and Raihan felt his breath escape his lungs in awe. _You are witnessing the universe I created, and the countless others I have given life to._

“I…” Raihan shook his head, and tore his gaze away from the heavens, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m not here to ogle at whatever shit you’ve made, prick.”

Arceus hummed. 

“I’m here… to get _rid _of something you’ve made.” He struggled onto his feet, and the God Pokémon cocked its head at him. “The very reason I’m here, actually.” He shoved his finger at Arceus angrily. “This secondary typing is a curse, Arceus. All you’ve let me know in the time I’ve met you is that you’re head-up-your-ass _proud _of what you’ve done, and let me tell you, there is _nothing _to be proud of with _this _shit.”

_My love in your veins? _Arceus asked. _That is my gift to humanity. _

“This _gift _is _killing _people, asshole!” Raihan shot back. “You _love _us? In what way, Arceus? _In what way, _when this very curse you gave us is killing us, ruining families and people?”

_I have made you superhuman._ Arceus’s voice was a low rumble now, intimidation vibrating with underlying violence that felt like the turbulent shudder of the earth, but Raihan held his ground. _I have made you superior—I have blessed you with my love, child, you are capable of so much more than any normal human._

“I am going to _die _so much faster than any normal human!” Raihan shouted. “And it’s not just _me, _it’s so much more than me!” 

Arceus’s even gaze was a pair of looped chains of red crystals. 

“Families are being torn apart. Surely you’ve seen it yourself—people are getting _killed, _getting captured and _sold off _because of this secondary typing.” He growled. “It’s shitty as _fuck,_ Arceus, and I’m here to tell you to get rid of it.”

_My gift is a blessing to mankind, child. You understand so little._ Arceus huffed. 

“You’re literally _watching over _all of us, and you _still _don’t get it?” Raihan growled. “What the hell does it take for you to give a _damn, _smoke cloud?”

_I have listened to your wishes, dragonborn. Was it not your wish that I relieve the honey-eyed child of her gift? Was that not your desire, whispered into your heart of hearts, that _I _granted?_

Raihan’s blood froze in his veins.

_Honey-eyed child._

“You… _you took Aphis’s secondary typing away._”

_As you wished it._ Arceus loomed over Raihan, looking down at him with a low-bubbling rage in its placid eyes.

“I didn’t… I wasn’t…” Raihan shook his head. “That was in a dream. I told_ Leon _that, not you.”

_That was not your beloved, dragonborn._

Raihan’s heart shot to his throat, and his eyes widened.

_That was me._

“_No fucking way._” He growled, and his eyes thinned into slits. “You—you cheating _bastard._”

_What heartbreak you have caused her, taking her gift away. _Arceus said. _You wish the same of all my beloved children?_

“That’s not—” Raihan shook his head. “She’s better off without her bug-typing. She’s _safer _without her bug-typing. She can make friends now.”

_Are you sure about that?_

Raihan hesitated, and forced himself to answer, “Yes.”

Arceus scoffed, and the pressure returned, Raihan dropping flat to the crystalline floor of the Hall of Origin. He groaned as the power of the universe pressed itself against him, rendering him unable to move as Arceus loomed over him. 

_Then let us make a deal, little dragonborn._ It murmured. _Prove to me that this gift has no use for you, and I will absolve the world of this blessing it sorely deserved._

“Humans have survived with much less.” Raihan snarled, “Take it away. I’ll show you I can be _more _than a dragon.”

_In return, my other children will feel my love more strongly. _Arceus continued as if Raihan had not spoken, and Raihan’s eyes widened. _What I have poured into you from the moment you have stepped foot on this land, I will pour into others—into those you cherish dearly._

“Wh—you can’t—you can’t _do that!_” Raihan stammered, but one of Arceus’s eyes floated down towards him, and the red gemstones wrapped around his throat. Raihan choked, gasping for air as the rubies melted into his skin, as Arceus moved away, the pressure finally lifting off Raihan. He rolled over, wincing as he clutched at his chest, panting heavily. 

_This is your punishment for your impudence. _Arceus said, and Raihan glowered at it. _And a test of your fortitude. Convince me of your strength, dragonborn, and I will grant you a wish._

“That you’ll finally knock this secondary typing business off?” Raihan deadpanned, and Arceus chuckled.

_You will give me what you want when the time comes._ It said. _Return to me by the next full moon, and we will talk._

“Next month.” Raihan nodded, and Arceus laughed darkly.

_And you, little hypocrite, are not to speak of this agreement._ It said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. _Now, awaken._

* * *

“…_han!_”

Raihan groaned, wincing as he slowly opened his eyes to see Steven leaning over him, holding a cupped leaf that was dripping water. 

“Raihan.” Steven sighed in relief, and Raihan realised his face was wet. He shook his head to get rid of excess moisture as he sat up, and he looked around. He was no longer in the Hall of Origin, back at the island in the middle of the Lake of Life, and his team was slowly waking up around him, little Gibble yawning cutely on his lap. “I’m so glad you woke up. I was beginning to worry that something had happened to you.”

“Ar—” Raihan began, but he felt Arceus’s chains tighten around his throat, and he coughed, choking on air as Steven jumped in surprise.

“Oh! Do you need more water?” He asked, and Raihan shook his head, wincing as he felt his throat. 

_That bastard,_ he thought angrily. 

“I’m fine.” He said, shaking his head, and Steven gave him a kind smile. “We should… we should get out of here, I think.”

“Yeah.” Steven nodded. “I was thinking that we should make our way back the way you came. There’s no gate here, so we should try beyond the water.”

“Right.” Raihan shook his head, and began to put his team back into their Pokéballs. He left Darude out of his ball, the Flygon letting out a long, satisfying yawn as he stretched out contentedly. Steven nodded, and patted Orpheus’s head. 

“Let’s head out too, Orpheus.” He said, and the Metagross nodded. Steven hopped up onto his back, and looked over at Raihan, cocking his head. “You know… there’s something… _different _about you.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked, and Steven frowned, gesturing at his eyes. Raihan’s own eyes widened at the sight of the gold that tinted Steven’s normally blue eyes, and he gaped at the other man. 

“Your eyes… aren’t usually that big, are they?” Steven asked. 

“Steven, your eyes are _[yellow](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1348270616466493440?s=20)._” Raihan said, and Steven jumped.

“_What?_” Orpheus gasped, and Steven hopped off his Metagross’s back to look at his reflection in the water. He gasped, dropping down to the shore, and the Metagross looked at Raihan, fear in his eyes. “Raihan—Stevie—is he—”

“He’s—” Raihan choked, and he groaned, forcing out his voice as hard as he could. “_Typing…_” The chains tightened around him, but he had to press on. He could taste blood in his mouth, but he had to tell Steven. “_Stronger._” Darude jumped, hurrying over to his trainer to hold him.

“Raihan, oh shit!” He gasped, “Stop talking!”

“Typing… stronger?” Steven breathed, getting up to look at him, and he gasped as blood trickled out of the corner of Raihan’s mouth. “Raihan, oh no!” He hurried to the water, scooping some water up and he offered it for Raihan to drink. Raihan’s Flygon whined worriedly, holding onto Raihan to keep him upright as Steven held the leaf to his lips. “C’mon, drink up.”

Raihan nodded gingerly, drinking it down with a hand around Steven’s wrist, and he could feel Arceus’s rage let up on his throat. “_Fuck,_” he said hoarsely, and Steven looked at him worriedly. “That’s as much as I can tell you. I’m sorry, Steven.”

“I…” Steven bit his lip. “Our typing grew… _stronger?_ But I thought…”

“I… did something.” Raihan admitted, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. It’s for everyone’s sake—please, I’m asking you to endure this for one month. One more month, and it’ll all be over.” 

“One… month.” Steven said faintly. “I’ll… I’ll be counting on you, Raihan.” He held Raihan‘s hands. “What about you? Your eyes, they’re… so much _rounder _than I remember.”

“I’ll… I can’t explain it.” Raihan said, feeling a warning squeeze around his neck. “You’re… you’re gonna have to trust me.”

“Should I… should I tell Wallace?” He asked, and Raihan nodded. 

“And just to be safe, you might want to put a stop to Cobalt’s adventure for a while. Keep him at home, where he’s safe, for just a month.” Raihan took a shaky breath. “You… you keep safe, too.”

“I… I don’t get it, but I’ll trust you, Raihan.” Steven nodded. “Whatever it was that happened to you… it sounds serious.” 

“Yeah.” Raihan shook his head, and he stroked Darude’s head gently. “I’m okay now, Darude. Thanks for worrying about me.”

Darude purred happily, leaning into his touch. He stopped suddenly, but said nothing when Raihan cocked his head at him. 

“Okay, we’d better get out of here.” Steven sighed, turning to Orpheus, who bowed his head at him. “Orpheus, could you get me to the other side of the lake?”

“Of course.” Orpheus said, letting his trainer climb on top of him, as Raihan did the same to Darude. “We’ll cross the lake and head back the way we came. There’s a path Raihan and I followed to find you.”

“I see.” Steven nodded, “Well, let’s go.” He turned to look at Raihan, who gave him a thumbs-up. Steven and Orpheus flew ahead of them, and Raihan and Darude followed suit. The young man looked down at Darude, and bit his lip, leaning forward to press his cheek against Darude’s neck.

“Bud, what’s wrong?” He asked quietly, where Steven couldn’t hear them. Darude let out a little sad whine, and Raihan stroked his neck. 

“Raihan, I can’t feel your dragon blood anymore.” He said, “I don’t… I don’t get it. What did you _do?_”

“I…” Raihan bit his lip, and he shook his head, hugging his Flygon’s neck. “Darude, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, team. I… just trust me on this, okay?”

“It happened when we all fell asleep, didn’t it?” Darude asked, and Raihan hummed in agreement. “When the tree bent over us, and the mist grew thick.”

“Yeah.” Raihan replied. “I… I can’t tell you exactly what happened, not yet.”

“In one month, right?” Darude said, and Raihan sighed.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll trust you. I’ll wait.” The Flygon turned to look at him, and gave him a wink. “We _all _can wait until then.”

Raihan smiled in relief, nodding as he wiped at his eyes. 

“Thanks, Darude.” He sighed, patting his Flygon’s neck. “Just… just let everyone know, okay?” 

“You know it.” Darude nodded, and they looked up at the sound of Steven’s voice.

“Look, a gate!” he called, and Raihan lit up when he recognised the two stone pillars he and Steven had travelled through. They were still lit white, though they could only see the continuing expanse of the Lake of Life’s meadow between the two pillars. “Let’s hope this gets us back, Raihan!”

“Right!” Raihan nodded, and the two men got off their partner Pokémon, putting them back into their Pokéballs. They looked at each other, and Steven offered his hand for Raihan to take.

“Just in case.” He said, and Raihan nodded, taking his hand to squeeze it tightly. Steven laughed nervously, looking down at their joined hands. “I… hardly felt that.”

“I’m sorry.” Raihan mumbled, and Steven took a shaky breath.

“One month.” He said, and Raihan nodded.

“One month.” He agreed, and the two of them strode through the gate, hand in hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on the anniversary of this fic i decided to throw hands with pokemon god
> 
> and also cry my eyes out looking for that one (1) picture of steven with yellow eyes in the pokespe manga only to fucking relive seeing my closeted, emotionally-hurt boy die right next to the man he's loved for so long only to be brought back to a world where wallace doesn't love him
> 
> thanks ruby's celebi you did a real swag move there


	58. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I got my wish… but at what cost?”

Nessa had known she was different for all her life. Her family were all capable of swimming for extended periods of time underwater, but every now and then, a special little girl like Nessa was born. Having lived with it for so long, she knew very well how to take care of herself—hydrate extensively, wear moisturiser, avoid high temperatures, electricity, and strong winds. She was used to it, difficult as it was to maintain, but in the water, she had never felt more like herself.

When the truth of secondary typing was revealed to the world, Nessa realised that she was incredibly lucky. She wasn’t like Raihan, stumbling through something so sudden and new, and she wasn’t like Allister, who had to carry the burden of life for far longer than anyone ever should. 

Nessa was one of the luckier secondary typed people, much like Captain Kiawe, who could live the rest of their lives in relative comfort like Normal-type people. 

However, that changed one night, as she and Sonia were getting ready for bed. Sleep or sex was still on the table then, and Nessa was busy laughing about something Sonia said, when she felt it. 

Agony, in every breath, like sand coated her throat and lungs. 

Nessa shuddered, and Sonia jumped, dropping her glass of water as she dropped to the ground, shuddering as overwhelming pain began to sear at both sides of her neck. Her hands shot up to hold her neck, and faintly, she could hear Cheddar barking desperately. Stapler let himself out of his Pokéball with a worried cry, and the two Pokémon hurried over to her. 

“Nessa!” Sonia gasped, hurrying to her girlfriend’s side. “Oh—oh, shit—Nessa, what’s happening?”

She couldn’t breathe. She was struggling to breathe, and Nessa felt panic rise in her chest when she felt warm, sticky blood on her fingers. 

Nessa was running out of air. She raised her hand to show Sonia the blood on her fingers, and the redhead _screamed _at the sight of four long, bleeding slits at the sides of Nessa’s neck. 

“Oh—oh shit, oh Arceus,” Sonia stammered, but she quickly pulled herself together, getting up onto her feet, and began to haul her girlfriend out the door. Nessa stumbled along, and Stapler quickly scooped her up onto his shell. “Thanks, Stapler!” Sonia huffed, and together, they hurried out of the women’s flat. “Let’s go to the sea!” She said, and they hurried out into the streets of Hulbury—pyjamas and all—to head to the dock, where a group of fishermen jumped at the sight of them. 

“Oi, isn’t that Leader Nessa?” One of them called. 

“That’s Arty’s little girl, innit?” Another fisherman jumped, and they hurried over to Sonia, who was panting heavily. “Wha’s wrong with ‘er, miss?”

“She needs—” Sonia choked on her breath as she tried to catch it, and one of the fishermen took his hat off to fan her with it. “She needs to get in the water, quick.”

“I hope she don’t mind if I just chuck ‘er in?” The first fisherman asked, but Sonia shook her head. 

“There’s no time!” She barked, “Please, you gotta—”

“Right-o!” The fishermen nodded, taking Nessa’s limp body off Stapler’s back. “Heave-ho!”

Sonia bit her lip as the men threw Nessa into the water, and she dropped to her knees at the dock, her heart pounding in her ears as she waited for Nessa to resurface. 

In the cool depths of the water, Nessa realised she could finally _breathe. _She straightened up, and she looked up at the surface, where she could barely see Sonia’s fiery hair in the dim light of the streetlamp. 

_What happened to me?_ She thought, _Did I… _

Nessa looked at her hand, and her eyes widened to see _webbing _between her fingers. She felt her neck, and horror dawned in her when she felt _gills. _

“Oh, Arceus.” She said faintly, and water rushed into her mouth—and _oh, _everything felt right again. “I’ve…”

A Mantine swam up to her, and she reached out for it. It let her pet its head, and Nessa felt herself calm down. 

It seemed like her secondary typing had intensified, but she didn’t know how. She had to let Sonia know. 

She swam up to resurface, but as soon as she was in the air again, Nessa couldn’t breathe again. Sonia could only manage a “Ness—” before Nessa had to come back under. 

Nessa took a shaky breath, and looked at the Mantine. 

“Do you know Bubble Beam?” She asked, and it nodded. “Okay, listen carefully…”

* * *

“Bea, I’m going to eat your last granola bar.” Allister announced, peering into her room, where she was sitting on top of her bed, her hair pulled back by a headband as she intently watched a PokéTube tutorial on a homemade skincare face mask.

When she didn’t respond, Allister cleared his throat, and tried again. 

“Bea?” He called, and stepped into her room. “Bea, you don’t even have earphones on.”

Bea jumped, and she shivered, rubbing her arms as she looked around her room. 

“Jeez, is Allister’s Gengar playing tricks again?” She sighed, and got off her bed. She strode right past Allister, who gaped at her in shock as she headed to the door. 

“Bea… I…” Allister shook his head, and hurried to stand between Bea and the door. “Bea! I’m right here! This isn’t funny, you know!”

Bea strode right _through _him, and Allister’s eyes widened as she opened the door. 

“Allister!” She called. “Where are you?”

Allister gaped at her, and then looked at himself. He was totally fine; he hadn’t done anything yet—he didn’t access his ghost typing. He hurried to the mirror in her room, and he gasped when he saw nothing. 

“No.” He breathed. “N-no…”

Somehow, his secondary typing had intensified. 

“But _why?_” His eyes welled with tears. “Am I… am I finally _dead?_”

* * *

When Steven and Raihan stepped through the gate, light enveloped them, and Raihan squeezed Steven’s hand as hard as he could to keep them together. When the light died down, so did the glow in the crystal pillars, and Steven and Raihan realised—with no small amount of relief—that they were back in the dig site. The stones were bathed in light from tall floodlights, the sun had set, and night was steadily falling. The sky was turning from orange to a rich violet, and Raihan felt a pang in his heart. 

The violet melting into aquamarine reminded him of Leon’s hair. He squeezed his ring under his shirt, and took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, cool air of Mt. Coronet. 

He missed Leon—tonight’s call—if he could make it—would _definitely_ calm Raihan down. 

They could hear a clamour from beyond them, and Raihan jumped when Wallace charged out of a tent, Cynthia in tow. The tall man was wrapped in a fluffy black fleece blanket, decorated with embroidered constellations, and Raihan recognised the blanket—it was Cynthia’s, he’d seen it before in her manor. 

Steven’s eyes widened. “Wallace!”

“Steven,” Wallace gasped, and pulled his husband into a tight hug, pressing their lips together in a desperate kiss. Raihan felt himself blush, and looked away as he let Steven go awkwardly to let the man wrap his arms around Wallace. “Oh, _Steven._” Wallace sighed as they pulled apart. 

“Wallace,” Steven pressed their foreheads together. “I—I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” Wallace mumbled. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Steven murmured, and Wallace pulled away from him to suddenly slap him with a rather fierce palm to the cheek_. _Raihan jumped at the surprisingly crisp _slap _that reverberated through the quiet air of the dig site, and Cynthia gasped in shock, too. 

“I think… I deserved that.” Steven said, strained, though the man had hardly flinched, let alone _reacted_ as he took Wallace’s hand. He pressed a kiss to a surprisingly red palm, and Wallace’s tight expression melted into boneless, utter relief. 

“I think… I deserved to do that, too.” He said, and Steven laughed sadly, nodding. “But… that _really _hurt.”

“I’m sorry.” Steven murmured. 

“What?” Cynthia breathed. “_Wallace _is the one that got hurt? He went at Steven at full force and he _got hurt?_”

“Yeah.” Steven said, and looked up at Wallace, his eyes shining with tears as they welled up. Wallace finally realised that Steven’s eyes had changed, and he jumped, cupping Steven’s face in his hands. “Wallace, I… I can’t feel anything.”

“Anything?” Raihan breathed, as Wallace’s expression fell. 

“Can’t… feel…” he said faintly, as Steven buried his face into Wallace’s chest. 

“I can’t feel pain. Or temperature. Or even _touch_.” He said, and Raihan felt his eyes prickling as Wallace hugged Steven closer. “I can’t feel your skin, your blanket, the slap from earlier, hell, even our kiss.”

“You’re cold.” Wallace said faintly, and he took Steven’s hand, looking at it. “You’re really pale, too…” he looked at Raihan desperately. “What happened in there?”

The wind began to pick up, and Raihan shivered. 

“I think…” Cynthia said, catching their attention, “We should all head inside to talk.”

Raihan nodded, and he gingerly walked past the husbands as he followed Cynthia into a large beige tent. They were talking in a hushed Hoenn dialect that Raihan couldn’t place, and he sighed sadly as he watched Wallace wrap his arm around Steven’s waist, before they walked to the tent together. 

Raihan found a little office set up inside the tent, and further in, he could see a few rooms separated from the office. Each room was divided by a flap, and he lit up when he saw a large, cloud-like shadow behind one of the flaps. 

“Janus,” he breathed, and he hurried over to the flap, unzipping it to see the Altaria fast asleep on a cushion. A camping cot was at the far side of the tiny room, and Raihan’s bags were set down at the foot of the cot. “Oh, buddy…”

“Just let Janus sleep.” Cynthia said, and Raihan sighed, but headed back out into her office as the Stone husbands settled down on top of some low crates. Raihan jumped when he saw Professor Rowan peer into the tent, and the man nodded. 

“Ah, everyone’s here.” He said, and Cynthia gestured for him to come in. The man sat down at a cloth folding chair with a tired sigh, and the blonde patted his shoulder with a fond huff. “Please, don’t mind me. I would very much like to hear about this hullabaloo that nearly destroyed my dig site.”

Wallace and Steven winced, and Raihan couldn’t help but feel sorry for them as he settled down on one of the two wooden stools Cynthia had pulled up for him and herself.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, and clapped her hands. “Okay. First things first. Anyone want hot chocolate?”

“Sure.” Raihan nodded, and Wallace nodded too. Steven looked unsure, and shook his head. Rowan raised a flask he’d been carrying in the inner pocket of his coat. Cynthia huffed, and plucked it off the man’s hands, earning her a petulant frown from her teacher. 

The blonde set the flask down on what was presumably her desk—Raihan could see her Pokéball clutch on it—and got to work, pulling out four collapsible mugs and a thermos. She poured out hot cocoa into each mug, and handed one to Rowan, Raihan and Wallace, keeping the last for herself. She took a sip with a contented sigh, and Raihan took a sip too, taking a deep breath of comforting cocoa, which grounded him enough to calm him down.

“Okay, from the beginning.” Cynthia turned to Wallace. “Wallace, how did you know to come here to Sinnoh?”

“I… I overheard your conversation with Steven.” He admitted, and Steven jumped, looking up at Wallace from where he was practically lying down on his chest. “Steven and I promised to eat lunch together yesterday, but then I overheard your conversation about the Lake of Life dig spot. I got… very upset, honestly, but I wasn’t as angry as I was earlier.” He shook his head, wincing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I left Devon, but then I heard a voice calling for me.” He continued. “I took Caesar, and we made our way to the Sky Pillar.”

“The Sky Pillar.” Rowan breathed in awe, and Raihan cocked his head in confusion. 

“It’s a shrine to Rayquaza.” Wallace explained, and Raihan hummed, nodding. “Only certain people can enter it, which includes me, a direct descendant of ancient Sootopolitans.”

“He sometimes goes there to clear his head.” Steven said, and Wallace chuckled, nodding. “I suppose, to Wallace, it’s the quietest place in all of Hoenn… not even Mt. Pyre could be truly quiet.”

“Indeed.” Rowan agreed. “The Sky Pillar… a place where you can touch the sky.” The Professor hummed, and gestured at Wallace. “Mr. Stone, you said it was a shrine to Rayquaza, and many texts refer to an old history of Rayquaza’s servants and worshippers. Do you, perhaps, serve it?”

“Not necessarily.” Wallace shook his head. “However, I know my bloodline has served Rayquaza, though I myself have never done so, at least not in official worship.” Wallace explained, “In some Old Hoenn traditions, my ancestors have purified people cursed by Kyogre or Groudon’s power using Rayquaza’s blessing.”

“So… you have a legendary blessing.” Raihan said, and Wallace hesitated. Rowan raised an eyebrow at Raihan, and grinned slightly.

“I see you’ve had a word with Riley, my boy.” He said, and Raihan gave him a sheepish little grin, before turning back to Wallace. 

“You may not use it consciously, but I could feel Rayquaza’s presence when you and Steven battled. There’s no way the wind just kicks up _like that._”

“I… I suppose you’re right.” Wallace replied. “I went to the Sky Pillar to think, and I…” He looked ashamed of himself, and looked at Steven. “I was overcome with rage.”

“I wouldn’t blame you.” Steven mumbled, and Wallace sighed, hugging him one-armed. 

“Then Latios called for me, and I went to save Cobalt from drowning. I don’t know if he even saw me, I left as fast as I could.”

“He said… he thought Mr. Briney saved him.” Steven said, and Wallace sighed. 

“Better that he thought of that than he knew it was me.” He shook his head. “I could hear Rayquaza in my head. It felt like I was on autopilot after that, and before I knew it, I was flying to Sinnoh after you.”

“And then here you are.” Cynthia frowned, and Wallace nodded. “Rayquaza amplified your anger and made you fight Steven.” 

“Yes.” Wallace sighed. “I… I’m truly very sorry. I want to apologise to Orpheus, as well.”

“Orpheus understands.” Steven said, squeezing his hand. “I just wonder… _why _would Rayquaza make you do that?”

“Indeed.” Rowan nodded. “While we have very little evidence to go off of, typically legendary blessings are not used in this manner.” He hummed, rubbing his chin as he took a whiff of his hot cocoa. “If anything, Rayquaza’s behaviour, to focus on this marital dispute, is highly irregular.”

“Because it needed to injure us.” Raihan said, and the room fell quiet as they all turned to look at him. “I think it’s our turn to explain ourselves.” He said, and Steven sat up straighter, swallowing nervously as Raihan took a steadying sip of his hot cocoa. “Wallace, since you don’t seem to have any idea what happened—”

“I was not fully conscious, no, but I do remember some details.” Wallace clarified, and Raihan nodded.

“Then… you know about Steven’s typing?” He asked, and Wallace nodded, pressing a kiss to Steven’s temple. “Right. So, to catch everyone up to speed,” Raihan gestured at Professor Rowan, who nodded, “Professor. Steven has a secondary typing, just like me.”

“I have a rock typing.” Steven said, and Rowan hummed in interest. “I… I had been vehemently in denial of this typing for a very, very long time now, but now I can’t hide it. It had been manifesting since I was a little boy.”

“Steven came here to Sinnoh to investigate the Lake of Life with us.” Cynthia said, looking at Wallace pityingly. “The first time you guys ran into us on your vacation had been part of that investigation.”

“No wonder we checked in at Oreburgh.” Wallace sighed, and Steven looked ashamed of himself. Still, his husband gently stroked his hair. “And all the research Steven had been doing. It’s… it’s making sense, now.”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “The two stones in the dig site do indeed lead to the Lake of Life.” He said, and Rowan and Cynthia’s eyes widened. “When we fell through the stones, we were taken someplace else.”

“Oh, _fuck._” Cynthia breathed. “We found the Lake of Life.”

“You can’t enter it easily, though.” Steven said, and the two researchers deflated. 

“During the battle between Wallace and Steven, Steven and I got injured.” Raihan gestured at Steven, “Steven bit his tongue and made it bleed, I… messed up my ankle. I was never sure if it was a sprain or not.”

“Oh, your ankle!” Cynthia gasped. “Is it okay now?” How is it—”

“That’s the thing,” Steven said, “The Lake of Life opens only to injured secondary typed people.” Raihan nodded, getting up onto his feet. He jumped up and down, and Cynthia blinked at him in awe. “Raihan and I were healed after touching the water.”

“So, Rayquaza sent Wallace after Steven to hurt him and Raihan, in order to open the gate to the Lake of Life.” Cynthia hummed. “Still doesn’t explain why it had to be Rayquaza.”

Raihan bit his lip. It had been under Arceus’s orders, but he couldn’t tell them. He felt frustration boil in his gut as he shook his head.

“Who knows.” He said, and they all sighed. A moment of silence lapsed between them, and he shook his head. “Anyway, Pokémon could enter the Lake of Life too, but only if they’re with injured secondary typed people.”

“I see…” Cynthia hummed. “So that’s why you could ride on Orpheus through the gate. Makes sense.”

“Not only that,” Steven shook his head, lighting up, “But we can talk to Pokémon in there, too.”

“You… can _talk _to them?” Wallace blinked, and Raihan nodded. 

“Steven and I got to talk to our partners.” He said. “Me, with the team I have on me, and Steven with Orpheus.”

“He calls me Stevie.” Steven said, and Wallace’s gaze softened on him. “I’m… it was surreal, but I’ve never been so grateful to be… what I am.”

Raihan deflated, as Steven looked at him apologetically. 

“That being said… something happened back there, didn’t it?” He asked, and Raihan nodded. 

“I’m… not sure what happened, either.” He replied. “A thick fog fell over us, and…” Raihan winced when he felt his throat tighten up. He coughed violently, and Cynthia jumped, quickly offering him a new bottle of water, cracking the lid open.

Raihan nodded at her gratefully before he chugged down half the water. Steven sighed, shaking his head. 

“He got like this when he tried to explain things to me, too.” He said, and Raihan nodded. “Earlier at the Lake of Life, he even _bled._”

“Shit.” Cynthia hissed, and turned to look at Raihan, inspecting his neck. “There’s… nothing there. Is there anything clogging it up?”

“No.” Raihan shook his head, his voice hoarse. “I promise I’ll… explain everything… in a month.” 

“One month.” Wallace said faintly, and looked at Steven. “But what about…”

“Apparently, my typing got stronger.” Steven said, and the room blinked at him. “I don’t know how that happened, but it seems whatever Rock-type traits I have had been amplified.” He deflated. “For example, I can no longer feel anything. Temperature, touch, and all that… it’s gone.”

“Your eyes are different, too.” Wallace said, and Raihan nodded. 

“I figured as much.” Steven frowned. “From what I can see in my reflection in the water. Maybe that’s an indicator.”

“You’ll have to wear sunglasses all the time to hide it.” Cynthia said, and Steven nodded. 

“I asked Steven to lie low for the time being.” Raihan said, and Wallace nodded, holding Steven’s hand with a determined look on his face. “I’m sure I can count on you to keep him at home, Wallace.”

“You can count on me.” Wallace nodded. 

“Cobalt, too.” Steven said, and Wallace blinked at him. “Just in case.”

“Right.” Wallace said hesitantly, and looked at Raihan. “One month, Raihan. Wherever you are in Sinnoh then, I expect an explanation.” 

“Yessir.” Raihan mumbled, and Cynthia sighed, shaking her head. 

“That means that Raihan’s secondary typing would be amplified too.” The blonde frowned, and Raihan bit his lip. “You should be more careful, okay? It’s only going to get colder around this time of the year.”

“G-got it.” Raihan nodded. 

“It would do you well to have a Fire-type on your team.” Rowan suggested, “Unfortunately, they aren’t very abundant here in Sinnoh.”

“I’ll… I’ll find a way.” Raihan said.

“I’ll have GWeez imported for you.” Steven volunteered. “How many doses do you need?”

“Um,” Raihan peered at the flap covering where Janus slept, and Cynthia smiled at him fondly. 

“Let’s… discuss that tomorrow.” She said, patting Raihan’s shoulder. “You’re looking a bit overwhelmed there, Raihan.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Steven mumbled, and Wallace rubbed his arm reassuringly. 

“It’s fine.” Raihan shook his head. “I think I just need to sleep this off. We’ll sort everything out tomorrow.”

“Right.” Cynthia got up, and looked at Steven and Wallace. “Um, I hope you don’t mind, Steven, but Raihan got your room here on-site. Wallace volunteered to take you with him back to Oreburgh where he’s checked in.”

“I think… I’d like that very much.” Steven sighed, and he got up, giving them an awkward little smile. “I guess we’d better get going.”

“We’ll meet up tomorrow at the Oreburgh Pokémon Centre.” Cynthia said, “That’s where Raihan can continue his journey, too.”

“R-right.” Raihan nodded, and Wallace got up with a huff. 

“We’ll see you two tomorrow.” He said, and gave Professor Rowan a bow. “Again, my sincerest apologies, Professor. It’s nothing short of a miracle that the site was not destroyed, but I feel responsible for the danger I have posed on your studies.”

“It’s alright,” Rowan nodded, “We are but pawns of the Legendaries, after all.” 

Raihan peered at him, and the man gave him a knowing smile that no one else seemed to catch. Still, Rowan turned back to the husbands, and gave them a little wave. 

“Take care on your journey back,” He said, “Riley will drive you there.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Steven sighed, and he turned to Cynthia and Raihan, giving them an awkward little smile. “See you.”

“Seeya.” Cynthia gave him a little wave, and Raihan nodded. Wallace bundled Steven out of the tent, and Cynthia sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Oh, I’m _exhausted._”

“I believe one of the research assistants has gotten the hot bath running.” Rowan said, and Cynthia lit up. “The tent it’s in should be free right now, if you hurry.”

“_Fuck _yes.” Cynthia hissed, and quickly put her empty mug down on her desk before hurrying out of the tent. Rowan huffed, putting his own mug down to get his flask from Cynthia’s desk, heading over to pat Raihan’s shoulder. 

“You’ve lost your secondary typing, haven’t you, my boy?” He asked gently, and Raihan’s eyes widened, his heart shooting to his throat as Rowan squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “It’s alright. Your secret is safe with me.” 

“I’m sorry.” Raihan said hoarsely, and Rowan hummed fondly, pulling him into a one-armed hug, and the young man clung onto him, burying his face into the man’s coat. “I… I did something. And I feel _horrible, _thinking about what happened to Steven.”

“Do you feel it’s unfair?” Rowan asked, and Raihan nodded, sniffling bitterly. “Whatever it is you did, Raihan, I don’t believe it would be something as selfish as simply wishing that your gift is gone, and that others will have it worse.” 

The Professor stroked the young man’s back, sighing. 

“This happened for a reason, that is what I believe.” He said warmly. “If your one-month deadline is true, my boy, then things may happen faster than you think.” 

“I sure hope so.” Raihan said shakily. “I don’t want the Stones to suffer more than they already have.”

“They are resilient, much like you.” Rowan patted his head, and pulled away to smile at Raihan reassuringly. “One month, Raihan. Make it a mantra, and for the love of all the people who care about you, do take care of yourself until then.”

Raihan did his best to give Rowan a smile, and the man nodded, gesturing at Janus’s room. 

“Off to bed with you.” He said, “I’ll have someone bring you dinner shortly.” 

“Thank you, Professor.” Raihan said, and the man gave him a nod as he stumbled into his room. He looked at Janus, who was still fast asleep on his cushion, and Raihan sighed as he dropped himself onto his cot, looking at his phone for the first time in what felt like _forever._

Miraculously, he still had over an hour to go before he and Leon were to call each other. He set an alarm for ten minutes before the time, and rolled over to put his Pokéball harness on top of his bag gently. Much to his surprise, Gladiolus deployed himself from his Pokéball, and Raihan gave him a sad smile, reaching out to him as the Duraludon held his hand gently. 

“Hey, bud.” Raihan said softly, and Gladiolus made a soft sound of greeting. “It’s… really disappointing. Not hearing from you.”

Gladiolus seemed to deflate, and Raihan sighed, rolling over onto his back to look at the ceiling. 

“I got my wish… but at what cost?” He mumbled, feeling his eyes prickling. “Fuckin’ hell…”

Gladiolus lowered his head, and gently squeezed Raihan’s hand. He wondered if Arceus heard his own wish, when that mysterious Arceus-like tree leaned over them. 

_Please, Arceus, grant me my wish._

“I’m taking a little nap.” Raihan huffed, and Gladiolus nodded. “Could you wake me up if dinner comes over?”

“Of course.” Gladiolus replied, knowing full well Raihan couldn’t understand his words, but their hearts were in sync enough that he knew Raihan would understand his heart. “I will be right here, my Raihan.”

_I wish that I will always be able to follow Raihan, even until the end of the world._

Gladiolus stood up a little straighter as Raihan fell asleep, and he stood watch on the door. 

This knight followed only one king, and it was the man beside him—the dragon of a boy he’d known since the moment he first took the breath of life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you, an intellectual: oh wallace has a legendary blessing and steven and cobalt are secondary typing, so that's why [latios was drawn to them and came with them](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26857795)!
> 
> me, a troglodyte, panting heavily, nose bleeding: m-miko mikuri.......... yommy........


	59. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, I guess you two visiting the Lake of Life must have done something. We just don’t know what.”

“What in the _fuck _is going on.” 

A statement, more than a question, one that didn’t really require an answer—not when none of them knew the answer that would satisfy any of them. Leon stood next to Sonia in front of the famous Mermaid Tank in the Hulbury Aquarium, staring at the young woman in the water across him.

It was nearing midnight when Sonia had called him, jerking him out of his sleepy stupor in his flat in Wyndon. The sobs that shattered Sonia’s stuttering speech spurred Leon to get on Red’s back and hurry to her flat she shared with Nessa in Hulbury. He could hardly understand her even as he met up with her in the flat, but the blood that stained the floor, her hands, and her clothes, were enough to tell him the situation was _dire._

He wasn’t sure what to make of the rest of it, though.

Nessa knocked on the glass, and Leon looked at her as she began to sign with webbed—_webbed, what the fuck_—fingers.

“_My secondary typing grew stronger._” She signed, and Sonia sniffled, blinking confusedly as Leon nodded. “_I don’t know why._”

“_How did it happen?_” Leon signed back, and Sonia heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Oh, I forgot [you knew sign language](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1306234075951198209?s=20).” She said, and Leon gave her a little grin as she dropped herself onto the ground to sit down with a tired groan. 

“_It suddenly happened a few hours ago._” Nessa replied. “_Sonia and I were just settling down for the night, and then suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I grew gill slits, and Sonia luckily figured out that I needed to be in the water to breathe._”

“I see.” Leon frowned. “_Were there any obvious triggers?_”

“_No._” Nessa shook her head no. “_Just happened out of the blue._”

“That’s odd…” Leon hummed, and he jumped when his phone suddenly rang. He frowned deeper when he saw that it was Bea, and he answered the call. “Bea? Hello?”

“_L-Leon, I can’t—I can’t find Allister._” She stammered, “_He’s—he’s disappeared suddenly, I don’t know w-where—do you think—_”

Leon’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Nessa, who cocked her head at him.

“_Bea,_” He signed for her, and spoke out loud for Sonia. Sonia sat up straighter, her eyes going wide. “_Allister’s gone missing._” Nessa jolted in surprise in her tank, and she pressed both of her hands against the glass, worry clear on her face. 

“You don’t think _his _secondary typing’s intensified too, do you?” Sonia gasped, and Leon bit his lip.

“It’s possible.” He nodded, and turned back to Bea. “Bea, calm down. Take a deep breath.”

“_R-right._”

“It seems like secondary typed people have had their traits grow stronger. It’s possible Allister might still be at home, but you just can’t see him.”

“_Wh… how?_”

“I’m not sure.” Leon shook his head. “Ask his Gengar, I’m sure he’ll be able to find him.”

“_R-right. I’ll get back to you in a moment._” Bea said.

“That’s right. Keep it cool, Bea. We’ll be alright.”

“_Thanks, Leon. I’ll call you later._”

Leon nodded at Sonia as he hung up. “_Allister’s secondary typing seems to have grown stronger, too._” He signed and said out loud for the two women, who both nodded at him. “_We won’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened._”

Sonia deflated, lying down with a groan.

“Oh, what in the world is going on…?” She sighed sadly. “This was totally unforeseen…” 

“_How long do you think you’ll be in there, Ness?_” Leon asked, and Nessa frowned to herself, shaking her head.

“_I’m not sure. I don’t want to take up the mermaid tank too much, that’d hurt the business._” She frowned deeply. “_Not to mention my Gym. While it’ll be a good while before the Major League circuit, I can’t just leave my girls alone._”

“_Not like this._” Leon signed back, shaking his head. “_Take a leave of absence for the time being while we sort this out. I’ll see if we can’t get you a free tank to stay in in the meantime._”

“_Thanks, Leon._” Nessa nodded. “_Looks like Hulbury Aquarium will be closed tomorrow._”

“_Seems like it._” Leon gave her a sympathetic smile. “_Stay safe for now. I’ll be back for you soon._”

“_I’m counting on you._” Nessa replied. “_And please take Sonia back home to her Gran. I won’t be at home for a while, after all._”

Leon gave her a thumbs-up, and he lit up when he saw her start releasing her team into the water with her. Sonia looked up at him from the ground, and he gave her a little smile as he took her hand and pulled her up onto her feet. Sonia looked at her girlfriend longingly, and Leon felt his heart ache for her when her expression tightened up at the sight of Nessa hugging her team in the tank.

“She asked me to take you home to Wedgehurst for the time being.” He said, taking her by the elbow, and he gently led her out of the aquarium, nodding at the security guard on the way out. “She’ll be in there for a while, at least until I find a spare aquarium she can stay in privately.”

“What about her Gym?” Sonia asked, and Leon shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to let her trainers see her like this.” Leon said, and the redhead frowned. “Until we get a handle on what’s going on, I’d rather Nessa have some private time to herself. Do you have any ideas on where we can have her stay for the time being?”

“Um…” Sonia pouted, but then they jumped when Leon’s phone rang again.

“Bea.” Leon said as he picked up. “Did you find him?”

“_Yes,_” Bea’s voice sounded significantly calmer now, and Leon smiled. “_You were right. He’d been invisible the whole time, and Gengar helped me find him. I’ve given him some clothes to wear for now so he’s mostly visible, but I can’t hear his voice. He communicates with me through texts._”

“That’s good.” Leon nodded. “Could I ask you to tell his Gym Trainers that Allister will be taking a leave of absence for a while? Just until we sort this whole thing out.”

“_Of course. For how long?_”

Leon paused, and frowned thoughtfully.

“One month.” He replied. “We’ll… we’ll see how things go in one month.”

“_Okay._” Bea replied. “_Thanks for keeping my head screwed on, Leon. I’m sorry if I bothered you._”

“It’s alright.” Leon said warmly. “If you have questions or need my help, Bea, you know where to find me. I’ll open my schedule for you.”

“_Thank you._” Bea sighed. “_Goodnight, Leon._”

“You too.” Leon hung up, and he sighed as Sonia looked at him pityingly. “Bea found Allister.” He said, and Sonia sighed in relief. “It seems Allister’s secondary typing has grown stronger, too. We should probably ask around for other secondary typed people if the same thing happened to them.”

“Right.” Sonia nodded. “I still have contact with Professor Kukui in Alola. I’m sure he can get a hold of Captain Kiawe.” 

“I’ll give Miss Lillie a call.” Leon volunteered, releasing Red into the street. The Charizard let out a powerful roar, and looked at his trainer expectantly. “We’re going to Wedgehurst first, bud.” He said, patting Red’s neck as he climbed onto his back. Leon looked at Sonia, grinning slightly. “Let’s go?”

The redhead lit up, and she nodded eagerly, hurrying to get onto Red’s back behind Leon. 

“Just like old times, huh?” Leon said, and Sonia giggled.

“Just like old times.” She agreed, “You know, to really drive it in, you could stay back home at Postwick, too.” She sighed happily as Red took off into the air, and Leon couldn’t help but smile. “It’s the weekend, Leon, and Hop and Auntie Daisy miss you.”

“You know… that sounds like a really good idea.” Leon murmured, as Red took off southward.

* * *

Waking up in his old bedroom felt like a dream. Leon smiled to himself as he sat up slowly, looking out the window of his bedroom, where he could see his grandfather’s small gardening shed. He remembered the first time he brought his family to this new house—two years into the Champion title, and two years away from home, Leon had saved enough on his own to buy the land and have a house built for his mother, as a replacement for the old house and farm that was falling apart. 

By now, as Chairman of Macro Cosmos, Leon was making far more than enough to keep himself and his family comfortable without working, but a few Wooloo from their old herd remained, rolling contentedly in the field beside their house. He could see his grandfather walking after the Wooloo, and he laughed fondly when he saw the little Champion at his heels, holding their old shepherd’s crook as they helped him move the Wooloo out of their lovely little barn in the field. Leon could smell breakfast already being cooked below him, and he sighed happily as he lay back down, checking his phone. 

Good thing it had been the weekend, indeed.

Leon had ten minutes or so before he and Raihan would call each other, and he sighed happily as he held his phone to his heart. 

“This is nice.” He said softly. A quiet awakening, breaking the cacophony of these past few months.

Macro Cosmos was steadily slipping down—with the mining sector practically crippled, the resulting protests and boycotts seemed to only ever increase. Bad news kept following after that—Spikemuth’s restoration had to stop following unknown vandalization, and whatever few steps they had taken forward to progress were completely undone. In Derbyton, Sena reported that while the building renovations were steadily progressing, the prognosis of the Power Spot beneath the Gym was not good. Leon didn’t even _realise _Power Spots could _die,_ and if the Derbyton Power Spot were to die, then there would be _two _Gyms in trouble.

Oleana reported that she was having problems too—with the mining sector gone, she and her staff were running out of materials for research and development. Leon hadn’t realised how much she needed the mined materials—but by now, the Macro Cosmos mines were shut down, and there was nothing he could do. 

Like a castle built on sand, it felt like Macro Cosmos was going to collapse on him at any minute, and Leon hadn’t realised how badly he needed to take a break until now, waking up one peaceful morning to no notifications, save for a reminder to call Lillie shortly after his conversation with Raihan.

Leon sighed, and peered at his phone again, smiling to himself as he scrolled through his social media timeline.

His timeline, unlike Raihan’s, was rather sparse, but he made it a habit of following some of the people Raihan were following, such as Cynthia, the only other Champion he’d managed to talk to during his time as a Champion himself. 

> _@cynthia_official: throwback to Worlds with these wonderful people! we should all have a reunion someday!_

Leon couldn’t help but smile when he saw the picture—he remembered the photo Cynthia (well, her _assistant, _at that time) took in the waiting room full of Champions at Worlds Finals. At that time, Leon had hardly spoken to any of the other Champions, mostly kept close to Rose’s side as the man continued to talk to multiple sponsors, while Leon was left to stand there next to him, casting longing looks at the other Champions as they talked together happily. 

Cynthia had been a sparkling, golden light that evening, and her hair was shining in the golden light of the chandelier in the waiting room as she hurried to Leon’s side, taking hold of his hand. The sponsor Rose had been talking to was from Sinnoh, and with a sweet coo and a darling flutter of her eyelashes, Cynthia had managed to convince the Sinnohan sponsor that no, he did not particularly mind if Champion Leon was not with them to discuss business deals. 

Leon had never been more grateful—staring up at the tall blonde in awe as she practically dragged him to the group of Champions, full of energy with stars in her eyes as she sat him down next to her while another Champion—little Champion Iris of Unova—quickly gathered the other Champions with them to take a photo. 

Come to think of it, that was the only picture Leon had with them the entire time he was Champion.

He gently tapped at the photo to see if Cynthia had tagged the other Champions in the photo, and he smiled when he saw their accounts pop up. He followed each and every one of them, and gently caressed the photograph, laughing fondly at the way he was awkwardly smiling between Cynthia and Alder, the latter with his arm slung over Leon’s shoulders. 

Like this, he could remember each one of them: Lance of Johto, a wide grin on his face as he stood with arms crossed at the far left of the photo, with Skye of Alola sitting in front of him, beaming widely with peace signs by their cheeks. Next to Lance were Steven and Wallace Stone of Hoenn, and only then did Leon realise that Wallace had been carrying a little toddler. 

A toddler, he thought. Leon couldn’t remember what the boy’s name was, but by now, the little boy would be old enough to go on his journey.

He couldn’t help but think of his own future, looking at the way the Stone husbands were pressed together, smiling at the camera with their son, and Leon smiled, feeling his heart flutter as he thought of him and Raihan. Would they even have children together? Would they have a surrogate, or would they adopt? How many children would they have? 

He laughed softly to himself, shaking his head as he felt his cheeks burn. 

“I shouldn’t be jumping the gun like this.” He hummed, and turned his attention back to the photo. 

In front of the Stones were Cynthia, Leon, and Alder, sitting on the same bench as Skye was, and on Alder’s lap was young Iris, who was grinning widely as she, too, flashed a similar pair of peace signs as the Alolan Champion was doing. Next to Wallace was Diantha of Kalos, an elegant little smile on her lips that quite charmingly matched the elegance of the man she stood next to, and Leon couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Models.” He huffed, shaking his head. 

Next to Diantha, standing with a hand on Iris’s shoulder, was the legendary Champion Red of Kanto, an awkward little quirk in his lips a stark contrast to the sunny smiles of the other Champions in the photo. Leon realised that Red didn’t have a tag, and he huffed.

“Still wandering the world, huh…” He muttered, and he shook his head. “A reunion sounds nice.”

He looked down at the comments section to see the other champions’ replies.

> _@lance.official: sorry i’m retired. i may be convinced with sinnoh dry though_
> 
> _@dia.monds: we should! You still owe me our date in the Lumiose Museum, Cynthia!_
> 
> _@mr.stone: we are literally a drive away, darling_
> 
> _@smileris: yesssssss!!!! im gonna drag the old man along_
> 
> _@skyehigh: YOOOOOOOO i miss you all!!!!!_

Leon laughed fondly, shaking his head. It seemed the other Champions were as amicable as ever, too, but he lit up when he saw a comment posted by Cynthia.

> _@cynthia_official: @dragonborn241 you’re next!!!_

“I’m glad she believes in him so much.” He sighed happily. “She’s still the same as she was back then…”

Leon made a move to like the photo, when his screen lit up with Raihan’s call. He smiled to himself, and picked up, lighting up when he saw Raihan smiling up at him sleepily, looking like he’d just woken up, too.

“_Hey, babe._” Raihan mumbled, and Leon’s heart swelled with affection for him as he blindly reached beside him to turn a camping light on. Leon could see Gladiolus’s hand come into view, pressing the button for Raihan, and Raihan winced, covering his eyes as the light came on. “_Oh, fuck. Thanks, Gladiolus._”

The Duraludon made a small sound of concern, and Leon laughed softly.

“He’s fine, Gladdie.” Leon said, “You look like you just woke up, Rai.”

“_Yeah, I…_” He yawned, stretching out as his phone flew out of his hand to hover above him. “_Just woke up from a nap._”

“Shouldn’t it be around 9:30 at night for you right now?” Leon cocked his head. “By the way, where are you?”

“_Oh,_” Raihan jumped, and looked sheepishly at Leon. “_Well, I’m currently at an archaeological dig site._” 

“Really?” Leon lit up. “Is it that site you mentioned a while back? The one Cynthia’s working on?”

“_Yeah._” Raihan nodded. “_They uncovered something really big, and I was there to see it._” Raihan took a steadying breath, and Leon cocked his head at him. “_They found an old village among the ruins, and a pair of stone pillars that opened up to a place outside space and time called the Lake of Life._”

“The Lake of Life…” Leon breathed. “Outside space and time? Like, it doesn’t… um…”

“_Time doesn’t move the same way in there as out here._” Raihan said, and Leon’s eyes widened.

“Hang on—did you go _in there?_”

“_Yeah._” Raihan’s grin was wry, and Leon gaped at him. “_There’s… been a lot that’s happened, Leon. I hope you’re ready for this._”

Leon took a steadying breath, and he nodded. “Alright. Hit me with it.”

“_Okay._” Raihan took a deep breath. “_First things first, do you know Steven Stone?_”

Leon remembered the photo Cynthia posted on PokéGram, and he nodded. 

“Former Champion of Hoenn, right?” he asked, and Raihan nodded. 

“_He has a secondary typing too. Rock-type._” Raihan said, and suddenly, all of last night came crashing back on Leon. His eyes widened, and he remembered Nessa and Allister, and worry suddenly seized his heart. 

“Wait, Raihan,” Leon said, “Just real quick—are you okay? Is your secondary typing stronger?” 

Raihan’s eyes widened, and he sat up straight. “_No way. What’s going on in Galar?_”

“Rai, please answer me first.” Leon said, strained, and Raihan shook his head. 

“_I’m—I’m fine._” He said, “_Actually, um… mine’s…_” He choked, and Leon’s heart shot to his throat as Gladiolus hurried off somewhere, and came back to hand Raihan a bottle of water. The man gulped it down quickly, and Leon sighed in relief when Raihan’s coughing calmed down. “_I’m okay. I’m okay, Lee. My secondary typing… won’t bother me._”

“I… if you say so, Rai.” Leon nodded. “It’s just… Nessa and Allister over here had their secondary typings grow stronger. None of us know why, and I thought of you.”

“_I… I see._” Raihan said faintly. “_That… may have something to do with our visit to the Lake of Life._”

“Really?” Leon gaped at him, and Raihan nodded. 

“_So, Steven, right? The first time I met him—remember, when I entered Pokémon Contests—he was here in Sinnoh to investigate the Lake of Life, too. According to archaeological records, the Lake of Life is related to people with secondary typing._” Raihan explained, and Leon hummed in thought. “_At first, we thought it was the source of secondary typing, but it turns out that it’s a sanctuary for secondary-typed people._”

“A sanctuary.” Leon breathed. “Sonia did mention something about secondary typed people being hunted down long ago…”

“_Yeah, that’s exactly why the Lake of Life exists. It’s like a Pokémon Centre for us secondary typed people, and only opens up when we’re injured._”

“Injured…” Leon jolted in alarm. “Raihan, did you get hurt?”

Raihan laughed, nodding, and Leon huffed exasperatedly as his fiancé gave him a sheepish little grin. 

“_That’s another thing I should talk to you about. Steven wanted to find the Lake of Life because he wanted to make sure of his secondary typing, but… he didn’t tell his husband._” 

Leon’s eyes widened, and he thought back to how close Steven and Wallace were in the picture. They seemed like the epitome of a happy family, he thought, and his smile diminished somewhat. Raihan noticed, and he shook his head. 

“_In the end, they sorted it out._” He said gently. “_I know you’re worried, Lee. Trust me, I was, too._”

“I… I guess I was.” Leon said, and Raihan gave him a reassuring smile. 

“_We’re different._” He said, and Leon couldn’t help but smile at the resolve in Raihan’s eyes. “_Our circumstances aren’t the same. We’ll be alright._”

“You’re right.” Leon nodded.

“_Turns out that was the way for us to find the gate to the Lake of Life, though._” Raihan continued. “_Wallace eventually found out, and he was _pissed.”

“I don’t blame him.” Leon shook his head. “Knowing what _you’re _going through is bad enough, not knowing _anything _at all is so much worse.”

“_Yeah._” Raihan sighed. “_So he came over to Sinnoh and they battled it out. Apparently, Wallace belongs to a bloodline that served the dragon-type Legendary in Hoenn, Rayquaza. That meant he had Rayquaza’s blessing with him, and that was what drove him to battle with Steven and hurt us._” 

“Hurt… you?” Leon echoed, and Raihan nodded.

“_Oh, yeah. Wallace was firing moves at _us, _too._” Raihan huffed. “_Crazy as that sounds. I know it’s not his fault, he was literally being possessed by a Legendary, but not gonna lie, if you had been possessed by Eternatus at any point, I probably wouldn’t have handled it as well as Steven had._”

“Well, I’ll have you know that I’m doing a bit better about my relationship with Eternatus.” Leon said, and Raihan grinned at him. “And I’m not about to be possessed by a Legendary any time soon. I don’t think we’re related to anyone close to Legendaries, after all.”

“_You might want to check up on Hop, though._” Raihan said, and Leon’s eyes widened. “_He’s very close with Zacian and Zamazenta, after all._”

“Oh, shit. You’re right.” Leon breathed, and Raihan nodded. 

“_But I think he’ll be alright. Low chances of pissing the dogs off, not when the dragon they were made to control’s under control now._” Raihan shrugged, and Leon sighed in relief. “_Anyway, the battle fucked Steven and I up, and we ended up gaining access to the Lake of Life. That’s where we got healed up after touching the water._”

“That’s amazing.” Leon nodded, eyes wide with wonder. 

“_What’s even more amazing is that I got to talk with my team, Lee._” Raihan said excitedly, and Leon lit up. “_Like, really talk to them! I could understand what they were saying!_”

“Oh, Arceus!” Leon gasped, “You can talk to them in the Lake of Life… that’s… oh…”

“_I know._” Raihan grinned, pulling Gladiolus close so he could lean on his side. “_It was great. I wish I had everyone with me then, so I could hear them all out._”

“Me too.” Leon nodded, and he smiled as the Duraludon cooed, nodding. “Hello, Gladdie.” He chuckled, and the Duraludon let out a small sound of greeting. “I’m glad you got to talk to Raihan. Sorry, Red can’t fit in the room right now, so he’s in the barn with the other Wooloo.”

“_Other Wooloo? Lee, are you at home in Postwick?_” Raihan blinked, and Leon nodded. “_Wow, that’s new._”

“Yeah, well… Sonia…” He deflated, and he rubbed his arm. “So, I guess you two visiting the Lake of Life must have done something. We just don’t know _what._”

“_Yeah._” Raihan nodded gravely. “_I’m guessing Nessa and Allister got into trouble._”

Leon nodded. “Nessa suddenly couldn’t breathe on land. She’s currently in the mermaid tank of Hulbury Aquarium. I’m trying to find an aquarium big enough for her to stay in for a while…”

“_Hammerlocke U._” Raihan said, and Leon blinked at him. “_There’s a spare tank in the Natural Sciences museum that used to have a Relicanth from the Crown Tundra. Ever since Dexit went into effect, the department had to move the Relicanth back to the Crown Tundra, and the aquarium’s been empty since. I’m sure they’ll be able to accommodate Nessa._”

“Oh, Raihan, thank you so much!” Leon lit up. “I’ll give them a call first thing Monday morning.”

“_I’ll do you one better, babe._” Raihan winked. “_I’ll send the request myself._”

“Thanks.” Leon smiled, and Raihan beamed at him. “Allister’s condition is a bit easier to deal with, he’s gone completely invisible, and apparently his voice can’t be heard. He can still manipulate objects, so Bea’s given him clothes to put on so he’s more visible, and he texts her to talk.”

“_I see._” Raihan frowned. “_Give it a month, Lee. I’ll do my best on my end to sort it out._”

“Thanks, Rai.” Leon sighed, and Raihan gave him a reassuring smile, but it quickly slipped off his face as he shook his head. 

“_Steven has it bad too._” He said, and Leon looked at him worriedly. “_He’s completely lost all sensation—hell, when Wallace slapped him earlier, it was _Wallace_ that got hurt._”

“I think I can imagine why he’d get slapped by Wallace.” Leon shook his head, and Raihan laughed witheringly. “But that’s terrible… I hope he takes care.”

“_Wallace will make sure of it._” Raihan nodded. “_That being said, I’m trying to sort out this power enhancement thing. I’m not entirely sure how things will go, but I promise, in one month, I’ll find a way to fix this._”

“We’re counting on you, Rai.” Leon sighed, and Raihan gave him an uneasy smile. 

“_I’ll do my best._” He sighed. “_What about you? How’s the MC issues?_”

“Same old.” Leon winced, shaking his head. “We’re dealing with it. New shipments of materials are coming in from Kalos, so hopefully Oleana can get back to developing the Eternabatt. Derbyton and Spikemuth’s Power Spots have wildly different issues, so we’re going to try and fix them as soon as possible.”

“_Yikes._” Raihan winced. “_Good luck, babe._”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, and he gave Raihan a tired little smile. “You seem like you have your hands full, too.”

“_Yeah._” Raihan groaned. “_Who’d have thought becoming Champion would be such a hassle?_”

“I mean, it _is._” Leon laughed, “It seems like a staple at this point, that Champions take down some large looming menace over them before they can become a Champion. A lot of the new Champions of the regions seem to have that going for them.”

“_True._” Raihan said. “_Can’t believe I might be throwing hands with Legendaries too._”

“Please don’t cause a lockdown.” Leon sighed, “I want you home in one year, not two.”

“_Yessir._” Raihan laughed. “_Good luck to you too, Lee._”

“Thanks.” Leon smiled. “I love you.”

“_Love you too._” Raihan grinned, and peered off to the side. He jumped, and turned back to Leon, looking giddy. “_Oh, by the way! I have another piece of big news._”

“Oh?” Leon raised an eyebrow, and Raihan got up from the camping cot he’d been lying on, taking hold of his phone as he turned the camera around. Leon’s eyes widened to see a large, cloud-like bird Pokémon sleeping soundly on a cushion. He realised it was the same blue as Janus, and he felt his heart leap with excitement. “Oh! Is that—is that Janus?” He asked excitedly.

“_Yeah! The Q-tip’s become a cotton ball!_” Raihan cheered, “_Janus evolved into an Altaria!_”

“He’s a dragon now!” Leon said, and Raihan nodded cheerfully. “The evolution must have taken a lot out of him, huh… he’s knocked right out.”

“_Yeah. We’ll be taking him to the Oreburgh Pokémon Centre tomorrow to get him looked over properly._” Raihan sighed as he made his way back to his cot, and Leon spotted Gladiolus settle down in the corner of the room on top of another Pokémon cushion. “_He evolved during the battle between Wallace and Steven. I tried to intervene, and Janus saved me when Wallace tried to hit me with a Stone Edge. That’s when he evolved._”

“And just in time…” Leon shook his head. “I can’t wait to thank him personally.”

“_I’ll try to get home soon._” Raihan grinned. “_Do you have anything else to do this morning?_”

“Actually, yeah. I have to call Miss Lillie and ask her if she’s alright.” Leon nodded. “We’ll need a bigger sample size of secondary-typed people, so we’re gonna try figuring out how to contact Leader Clemont in Kalos, too. If you and Leader Volkner are right, then we might try identifying his _SecTy _gene, so that Sonia’s project can grow a bit bigger.”

“_Uncle Narcissus being a stingy bastard again, is he?_” Raihan scowled, and Leon sighed exasperatedly. 

“Sonia told me that’s just how grants work.” He said, “I wouldn’t put it past Lord Narcissus to be a shitheel, but we’re not about to start breaking down doors and demanding things when we still need things from him.” Raihan nodded at that petulantly. 

“_That’s fair. How are you going to contact Leader Clemont?_”

“I was thinking to start with Professor Sycamore.” Leon frowned. “I don’t have his contact details, but I remember that Professor Kukui had been his colleague at some point, so…”

“_Look at you, following the links._” Raihan chuckled fondly, and Leon laughed sheepishly, feeling his cheeks burn. “_That’s hot, babe._”

“We are _not _having sex right now, Raihan, you are at a _dig site _where people can _hear _you. Janus and Gladdie are _right there._” Leon huffed, and Raihan burst out laughing. Leon couldn’t help but laugh along with him, and when their laughter dissolved into contented sighs, Leon smiled widely. “I’d better get going. Alola’s about to hit the hay and I still have to call Miss Lillie.”

“_Right, right._” Raihan nodded. “_Good luck, babe. Love you._”

“Sleep well, Rai.” Leon smiled. “I love you too.”

Raihan blew him a kiss, and Leon laughed softly as the other man hung up. He sighed fondly, and got out of bed, standing by the window as he called Lillie without video. She picked up after the third ring with a sleepy-sounding voice, and Leon was glad that he hadn’t opted for a video call, or she would have seen him smiling. 

“_Hello?_” She asked.

“Miss Lillie, hi. It’s Leon.” He said, and he heard rustling on the other side, followed with a little squeal and the worried barks of an Alolan Vulpix.

“_Mr. Leon! Yes! Hello!_” Lillie stammered, and Leon huffed fondly. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, and she laughed nervously. 

“_Y-yes, never better! Snowy—I’m okay, promise—I’m—terribly sorry, Mr. Leon. I was just startled._” She stammered. “_It seems I fell asleep… thank you for waking me up._”

“It’s no problem.” Leon said warmly, looking out of his window to see that Hop had joined the little Champion in the field, and he smiled as he watched the two teens frolic around with Zacian and Zamazenta, the Legendary Pokémon howling happily as they basked in the gentle sunlight of the early morning. He frowned slightly at the sight of Hop cuddling the Pokémon, and he shook his head, turning his attention back to Lillie. “I’m calling about the query I requested over email last night.”

“_Ah, yes! Is this about my secondary typing?_”

“Yes.” Leon replied, “I wanted to ask if it had intensified in any way recently.”

“_No, not at all._” Lillie said, and Leon frowned deeper in confusion, cocking his head at the rising sun. “_Well, there has been nothing out of the ordinary for me. I still have the same old metal hypersensitivity, but we have discovered that it can be taken care of by GWeez._”

“Oh!” Leon lit up. “That’s good.”

“_Yes._” Lillie giggled. “_I’m very relieved. That GWeez is nothing short of miraculous._”

“That’s true.” Leon chuckled, and he shook his head. “Well, I’m glad you’re alright.”

“_Is something the matter? Did something happen to Duke Raihan?_” She asked worriedly, and Leon bit his lip.

“Well, other secondary typed individuals here in Galar—Leaders Nessa and Allister—experienced a sudden increase in secondary typing traits, and we don’t know why. I wanted to ask if you were experiencing it too.”

“_Oh, I see…_” Lillie sighed. “_No, I am not._”

“That’s good.” Leon replied, “Just in case, though, please take care, for at least a month, while we try to figure out why this happened. Could I ask you to notify me if anything changes during the month?”

“_Of course, that’s no problem._” Lillie replied. “_I hope the other Leaders will be alright…_”

“We’re doing our best to manage their issues right now.” Leon replied. “They’re in the best of care.”

“_That’s wonderful to hear._” Lillie sighed. “_Well, if there’s anything else I can do, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me._” She said, and Leon hummed in acknowledgement. “_And again, thank you for waking me up, Mr. Leon! Gladion would not be happy to hear I fell asleep in my office again…_”

“Please do take care of yourself, Miss Lillie.” Leon sighed fondly. “Until next time.”

“_Until next time, Mr. Leon!” _Lillie chirped, and Leon hung up. He frowned down at his phone. 

“So it’s not for _everyone _with secondary typing?” He murmured, as he thought of Nessa, Allister, and apparently, Steven Stone. “Whatever in the world would connect them together?”

He jumped when his phone buzzed again, and he looked down to realise it was a text from Detective Robin. 

_Chairman, I apologise for interrupting your weekend, but I have news: your request for a visitation to Mr. Rose has been approved._

Leon swallowed thickly, and tore his eyes away from his phone, staring out at his little brother and his datefriend now lying on the grass, sandwiched between Zacian and Zamazenta as they laughed about something, hand in hand. 

Raihan was working so hard on his side, facing off mysterious forces that seemed to affect the very thing that made him special. 

Leon would have to be just as brave.

He looked back down at his phone, and took a shaky breath as he sent back a reply.

_That’s good to hear. When is the soonest available time I can see him?_

He held his breath, and Detective Robin’s reply came both far too quickly, and far too slowly.

_Tomorrow, any time before lunch. Let me know when you’re available, and I’ll accompany you there myself._

Leon released his breath, and nodded to himself.

“Right,” he said shakily. “I can do this.”

He turned on his heel, and began to head downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "what's a mermaid tank" you know the ladies that wear mermaid tails and swim in water? the pro mermaids? yeah. them.


	60. The Prison Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hello, Leon.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [there's a spinoff](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062800/), by the way! it's about how leon got his charmander. oh, and red and blue are there falling love too, i guess.

Leon had only ever been to a prison once. 

It had been a very, _very _long time ago, when he was around 7 years old. Back then, he was still not an official trainer, but he had a little Charmander, a darling little runt of his litter, who did very little but cling to Leon every chance he got. 

Back then, he had visited a prison along with some police officers—a man named Looker leading them—and a very special trainer that Leon held close to his heart. 

His Charizard’s namesake—Red, the legendary Champion of Kanto—had been with him then, so long ago. He was a teenager back then, but Leon had always felt like Red was a timeless man—plucked out of space and time in a way that felt ethereal, like he’d been blessed by a Legendary himself. 

Now that Leon thought about it, he supposed Red _was _blessed by a Legendary, to be that kind of man that he was. He didn’t know _which _Legendary, but Leon could confidently say that Red had always been a very special young man. 

Back then, Leon and Red had worked together to end a Pokémon smuggling ring that had set up operations in Postwick. Leon’s Charmander had been the lynchpin that helped them end the operation, and Champion Red had vouched for Leon when the authorities tried to take the Charmander away.

“_This boy saved our lives with this Charmander._” Champion Red had signed while his partner—Blue, another Champion of Kanto—interpreted him. “_I will not allow you to tear them apart._”

And that was that—by Champion Red’s endorsement, Leon was allowed to keep his first Pokémon at the age of 7, and Leon promised himself he would learn sign language out of gratitude for Red’s help. 

The visitation had been to help the police identify which grunts had damaged Leon’s family farm to add to the charges against them. Now, he was back—over a decade later—to see a man he never thought he would ever see again.

“I’m afraid some things have changed since you last saw him.” Detective Robin said, tapping his wedding ring absentmindedly on the steering wheel, and Leon jolted out of his thoughts.

That was right—he was sitting in the front passenger seat of a well-maintained old Bentley, while Detective Robin drove them from Warwick Yard HQ in Wyndon to the HM Prison Northbridge, located further north of the business district, closer to the woodland surrounding Wyndon. Leon cocked his head at Robin, who gave him a little smile as he peered at Leon. 

“You alright, Mr. Chairman?” He asked, and Leon laughed weakly. 

“I’ve got jitters.” He admitted, and Robin hummed. 

“Understandable.” He said. “But you might not recognise him, I think.”

“Really?” Leon asked, and Robin nodded. 

“I don’t know how much you know about Mr. Rose, but apparently he has been receiving blood transfusions every four months or so.” 

“What?” Leon blinked, and the detective sighed sympathetically. “I didn’t… know that. Was he sick?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t get the info out of his doctor, but that’s what was prescribed for him.” Robin said, “Our pathologists think he may have some problems with blood production, which is why he’s being given transfusions. Not even Miss Oleana knew, apparently.”

“Oh, wow…” Leon breathed, sinking back in his seat. “I had no idea…”

“We’re actually going to see him get his transfusion today.” Robin said, and Leon stiffened up as the gate of the HM Prison Northbridge came into view. “Our time is during his transfusion, so you’ll be able to see it.”

“I see.” Leon said faintly, and Robin gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

“Squeamish about needles, sir?” He asked, and Leon laughed exasperatedly, shaking his head. 

“I’m more concerned about the man being injected with them, really.” He replied, as Robin came to a stop at the gate. Leon held himself stiffly as he silenced himself, watching as Robin identified himself and his passenger, before being allowed into the prison. Leon took a shaky breath as Robin parked the car, and the detective looked at him sternly. 

“Let me know if you need out immediately, alright?” He asked, and Leon nodded. “While we have clearance from Dr. Grana, I don’t want to be the guy that was responsible for Champion Leon’s panic attack.”

“That wouldn’t be your fault, Detective.” Leon said wryly, but he met the man’s gaze with a determined stare. “I’ll be fine. Let’s head in.”

* * *

Rose had been placed in a different facility than the typical inmate, and Leon was surprised to learn that Rose was in his own apartment-like holding facility—complete with a private bedroom, and other facilities. It reminded him of a TV show he and Raihan watched a long time ago, and he found his mind wandering again as he and Robin walked through the corridors to head to Rose’s facility.

Rose was in a comfortable gilded cage, he realised. Much like Leon had been, now that he thought about it. The irony wasn’t lost on him, and it made something turn in the bottom of Leon’s gut as he strode along at Robin’s heels to the visiting room. 

“Oh, it’s you.”

Leon’s eyes widened when he saw two people standing outside the door to the visiting room, which was flanked on both sides with frosted glass. Bede couldn’t quite meet his gaze, looking embarrassed as he turned his face away, and beside him, Peony gave Leon a wide grin, flashing him a thumbs-up that made Leon’s lips quirk up slightly. Robin gave the two of them a nod before he headed over to another officer to discuss their visitation for the afternoon.

“Hello, Bede.” Leon greeted, and he nodded at Peony. “Mr. Peony.”

“Hey there, Leon.” He grinned, giving him a mock salute. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Don’t act like this is all serendipitous.” Bede grumbled, and the older man laughed fondly, shaking his head. “The both of us found out that you were going to see him today, so… here we are.”

“Well, more him than me,” Peony said, and Bede’s cheeks turned red. “My brother and I have been rather estranged for a while now, so I’m more than alright with the distance.” He peered at Bede, who had huffed, turning away from them to glower at an indoor plant in the corner, and Leon’s heart swelled when he saw Peony’s expression soften on him. “Though of course, I can’t say the same for Bede.”

“That’s true.” Leon hummed, “Why did _you _come here, though?”

“Moral support, more than anything.” Peony sighed. “While I’d never been a man happy to clean up after Rose’s messes, this was one I felt I had to involve myself with, you know?” He shrugged, and Leon nodded. “I have my darlin’ Nia, and Bede has no one but that old lady.”

“You know as well as I do that Opal’s taking good care of him.” Leon chuckled, and Peony gave him a wide grin.

“Of course I do. Boy’s got more meat on his bones and pink in his cheeks—Opal has grandchildren, this is an ultra-mega no-brainer for her.” 

Leon smiled. “But you’re worried about him, anyway?”

Peony laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I suppose I am.” He replied. “Briseis is doin’ great, by the way. The rest of the team, too. They’ve taken to us really well, Nia loves them, thank Arceus.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Leon lit up. “I’m glad she’s found a good home.”

“Yeah, well…” Peony deflated. “Nia says Briseis is the coolest dang thing I’ve ever done for the house… did our winter adventure mean nothin’ to her?”

“Well…” Leon hummed, looking off to the side. He remembered that story from the little Champion—how they’d ranted to him over twin mugs of cream soda in Sonia’s cabin about how Nia had it so well with her dad. In their words, Peony was their dad now, until Nia could get over herself and see how well he was doing, all things considered. “I’m sure she’s just… going through a phase.”

“It won’t end soon enough.” Peony whined, and Leon nodded sympathetically, patting his arm. “When you have kids, Leon, you make sure you love ‘em with all your heart, got it? Don’t be like me, leaving her all alone when I was Champion…”

Leon thought back to Steven and Wallace’s son, and thought of Raihan, grinning at him as he held their own little toddler in his arms.

“I’ll never let them out of my sight.” Leon said warmly, and Peony’s gaze softened on him.

“Make sure you pop the question first, though!” He said, lightly elbowing Leon, and the younger man laughed sheepishly. “I’m sure Duke Raihan’ll say yes!”

“I… I hope so too.” Leon smiled knowingly, thinking of the ring Raihan always kept with him. “Anyway,” he shook his head. “Do you know why Bede’s here?”

“_I can hear you two old men talking about me._” The teen snarled, though there was no venom in his voice. Leon and Peony looked at him, and they gave each other exasperated, but fond looks. “I can answer that question, Mr. Chairman, so _please _ask that question to my face.”

“Very well,” Leon said patiently, smiling slightly at Bede’s petulant huff upon seeing the fond looks Peony and Leon shared together. “What brought you here today, Leader Bede?”

“I wanted to see…” Bede hesitated, but Leon patiently waited for him to answer. “I wanted… I wanted to hear what he had to say.”

Leon blinked at him.

“This is… your first time seeing him since his arrest, right?” Bede asked, and Leon nodded. “It has not been my first time seeing him, and yet unlike you, I…” His expression fell, and he looked down at the ground. Leon could see his hand balled into a shaking fist. “I had never gathered the courage to ever talk to him.”

“He’s been here frequently.” Peony said, and Leon looked at him. “When I came to visit sometimes to ask about Briseis and the team’s preferences, diet, training routine, all that—I would see Bede sometimes.”

“I come here whenever the fancy strikes,” Bede said, “When I’m not with Opal, or the Gym Trainers, or at school with Victor and Marnie, I’m… here.”

Leon’s expression fell as Bede sighed, a long-suffering sound that felt like the weight of the world was resting on the teen’s shoulders. 

“Just watching him. Through this glass where he can’t see me.” Bede gestured at the glass. “I ask the guards to remove the frosting, and every time, I wish I could gather the strength to go in there, and demand answers myself, but…”

“I’ll do it for you.” Leon said gently, and Bede jerked in alarm, blinking up at Leon like he’d been slapped with the softness of the man’s words. “It seems to be eating at you for a long time now, Bede. I know you refused the help offered by Dr. Grana after the arrest, but I really do think you should see him, too. For your sake.”

“My… sake.” Bede said hesitantly, and Leon nodded. 

“After we clear the fog here.” He said, gesturing at the door. “I want you to start putting yourself back together, if not for your sake, then for everyone who loves you.”

“_Loves me._” Bede echoed, and Leon huffed. 

“You have friends, Bede. Gloria, Marnie, and Hop, who drag you around Wyndon and the other cities, showing you everything.” Leon said, “You have Opal and the Gym Trainers.” He turned to Peony, who blinked in surprise. “Mr. Peony, who cares about you a lot, too.”

Bede blinked at the man, and Peony laughed sheepishly, nodding as he rubbed the back of his head.

“I guess he’s right!” He laughed, flashing Bede a thumbs-up. “Can’t help it when I’m my darlin’ Nia’s ultra-mega dad, after all!” Peony sobered up, and patted Bede’s head. “Can’t resist helping a kid in need.”

Leon’s gaze softened on him, as Bede looked up at him with eyes shining with wetness. 

“So let Mr. Chairman do the work, okay?” He asked, and the teen deflated. 

“What did you want me to ask?” Leon asked, and Bede took a shuddering breath.

“Just if he remembers me.” He murmured, and Peony and Leon blinked. “That’s… that’s all I need to know.”

“I see.” Leon said, and he straightened up when he saw Robin approaching them. “I’ll ask him, then. Please watch us, Bede.”

“I… I will.” Bede said, as Leon turned to Robin, who gave him a nod. 

“You have as long as you need,” He said, gesturing at the door, and Leon realised that it had no doorknob. A metal panel replaced the doorknob, and a pair of LED lights were on top of the panel, one of which was currently lit red. “The door is unlocked when it lights up green. It’ll read your fingerprints when you first push it open, and it’ll unlock when it detects your hand pushing on the inner panel if you’re trying to get out.”

“I understand.” Leon nodded stiffly, and Robin escorted him to the door, while Peony gently herded Bede close to the window. “Detective, the windows—”

“Yes, they’ll be defrosted the moment you step in. We’ll hear everything you talk about, too, so…” He peered at Bede, and Leon bit his lip. “Practice discretion.”

“I understand.” Leon said, and Detective Robin gestured at the panel. 

“When you’re ready, please step in.”

Leon took a steadying breath, and he nodded as he strode forward towards the door. He reached out for the panel, and he hesitated.

It would be the first time in over a year, he thought. Had he truly healed enough to face him?

“Well, only one way to find out.” Leon muttered, and pressed his hand to the panel. 

It beeped for a moment, and the red light switched off as a green light lit up. He nodded to himself, and pushed the door in, stepping into a marble-walled entrance alcove. He blinked when he realised that in front of him was an armchair set down in front of a wall of plexiglass, the only opening in the wall a set of holes for communication. Leon could see into the rest of the flat—an almost perfect mirror of the man’s Wyndon penthouse flat that Leon had inherited after Rose’s arrest. 

“Hello, Leon.” 

Leon’s heart shot up to his throat as his eyes moved down to see Rose sitting across him on an armchair in a comfortable sprawl like a king seated on his throne. Leon swallowed thickly, and he looked at the man’s arm, which was currently resting on a small table next to him, palm up, hidden underneath a blanket. 

He still looked the same, Leon realised. Detective Robin’s warning was moot—the man hadn’t seen Rose during those final moments before Eternatus almost destroyed Hammerlocke. He hadn’t seen the way those green eyes shone with an emotion Leon couldn’t quite place—though it _terrified _him to the core, despite everything. 

Leon remembered the way those green eyes looked, and right now, they were exactly the same as they were before. 

Rose hadn’t changed a bit, and Leon had a sinking feeling that isolation had only preserved the man, and not changed him for better or worse. 

“Rose.” He breathed, and Leon felt his legs carry him forward until he stood in front of him, and suddenly, it felt like more than a year ago again, staring back at Rose as the man explained to him the plan of awakening Eternatus. 

“You’ve grown.” Rose said warmly, and Leon let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, collapsing down on the chair across him. “Look at you. You carry the title very well, Mr. Chairman.”

“I…” Leon took a shaky breath. “Yes. I’m the new Chairman of Macro Cosmos.”

“I have a telly,” Rose said cheerfully, gesturing behind him, and Leon didn’t need to look—he’d lived in the man’s flat for the better half of a year before he and Raihan moved in together. Leon knew very well how Rose’s flat looked. “I watch the news sometimes. I’m glad you’ve given Oleana a wonderful opportunity, as well. A brilliant mind like hers cannot be wasted.”

“Rose, I…” Leon shook his head. “You haven’t changed, have you?”

“And you, my boy, were almost unrecognisable.” Rose hummed, and gave him a little smile when he spotted Leon’s gaze dropping down to his arm. “Oh, were you curious about this?”

Leon jumped, and he blinked at Rose as the man pulled the blanket off with a pleasant hum, showing Leon the intravenous needle, and the gently-swaying bag of blood on top of a little machine on the table next to him. Leon blinked at the little bag of blood, but he couldn’t see any telling signs on the label—at least, nothing damning, as all he could see was the blood type (O, Rh-negative) and the date of donation (less than a week ago). 

“I didn’t know you needed blood transfusions.” Leon said, and the man chuckled fondly.

“You didn’t need to know, Leon.” He said, and Leon’s expression tightened.

“Yet you needed to know about every single calorie that passes through my mouth.” He replied, and Rose’s eyes narrowed on him, though there was still that placid amusement in them that made Leon’s skin crawl. “Or whatever the hell you let doctors put in my blood.”

“This and that are two completely different things, Leon.” Rose said simply, “Though, if you insist, yes. I’ve needed blood transfusions since you were… around 15, or 16.” He gestured at the bag with a little sigh. “It’s inconvenient, but what can you do?”

“What are you sick with?” Leon asked, and Rose cocked his head at him.

“Our conversation is being recorded, Leon, I am not inclined to share this information with your companions.” He gestured at the door behind Leon, and the younger man blinked. “For you, though, I am willing to make an exception.”

Leon bit his lip, and met Rose’s gaze. 

_If I earned his trust first…_

“Then I’ll ask them to stop.” Leon said, and Rose raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ll ask them to stop recording, and it will be just the two of us.” 

Leon got up from his seat, and turned to the door—

“Leon, oh darling Leon…” Rose clicked his tongue, and Leon froze, his eyes widened as he could see Rose shake his head in the reflection of the opaque windows to the outside. “Don’t forget that I know you, through and through.”

Leon took a shaky breath as the man laughed softly. 

“You really won’t do that, won’t you?” He asked, and Leon’s heart shot to his throat. “I know you well enough. You’re like a book I have memorised, my dear. You and Oleana both—my perfect creations, masterpieces I made with my own two hands.”

“I…” Leon slowly turned to look at him, and Rose gave him a sweet smile, one that felt like a knife rammed into his gut, and turned sharply to the side. Leon buckled at the sight of those green eyes boring into him, and the man’s smile widened slightly. 

“We’re much alike, you know.” He said, “I didn’t like dirty tricks, either, when I started out.”

Rose inspected his nails, and chuckled.

“But I saw why they were needed.”

“You…” Leon began, as Rose gestured to the seat across him.

“More and more, you’re blooming into exactly how I have groomed you, Leon. Though you don’t realise it.” He said pleasantly as Leon shakily dropped himself into the armchair across him. “There is no one else I would leave Macro Cosmos to.”

“Rose, I…” Leon took a shuddering breath, and steeled himself. “I’m tearing it apart.”

The smile slid off Rose’s face, and it was Leon’s turn to pull a withering grin onto his face as he met the man’s bewildered expression.

“Oh, didn’t hear _that _on the telly, did you?” He asked, sitting up straighter, emboldened by the man’s look of surprise. “This man you wanted to leave MC to is about to tear it to the ground, Rose.”

“I beg your pardon?” The man blinked at him, and Leon took a steadying breath.

“And that’s why I’m here.” He said. “I’m not here to exchange pleasantries. I’m not here to make friends with you. Or to make amends. I don’t want to hear anything about the past from you if it’s about me.”

Leon got up, and Rose blinked at him as Leon towered over him. 

“I am here as the Chairman of Macro Cosmos, Leon,” He said, and gave the man a deep bow. “And I am here to ask for your help.”


	61. The Rose’s Thorns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “_I am not you._” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: my favourite piece of classic literature is [maurice leblanc's arsene lupin series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Lupin). no i haven't seen the netflix original yet im busy being depressed and burned out from work lol 
> 
> another fun fact: detective robin's surname is ganimard. 
> 
> another fun fact: [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/144602%22) is one of my favourite pieces on ao3, ever, because of how much it has changed my life. thank you ao3 user JackOfNone, for being such a powerful force of change.
> 
> **content warning:** implied past emotional, mental, and physical abuse. my pals please note: rose is an awful slimeball in this fic. stans, you have been warned, considering how much people hate him even before he showed up dslfksj lmao

“My, my.” Rose said, as Leon squeezed his eyes shut. “Stand up straight, Leon. This is not how the Chairman of Macro Cosmos conducts himself.”

Leon shot upright, glowering at the man as he gestured at Leon’s seat with his free hand. 

“I _will_ help you, don’t worry. But please never do that again. I hope you haven’t done that for anyone else, my dear.” 

Leon sat down reluctantly, frowning deeply as he shook his head. 

“_Of course_ I haven’t.” He replied, meeting Rose’s even gaze. “You would know that—you isolated me from so many people that I don’t know anyone.”

“It’s certainly helped, I see.” Rose hummed. “In the end, I still knew best, didn’t I?”

Leon grit his teeth as he sat up straighter, the complete opposite of Rose’s relaxed sprawl on his armchair. 

“I said no talk about the past, Mr. Rose.” He said, and the man gave him a patronising nod. “Macro Cosmos is running into supply and labour problems.” Leon sighed, and Rose nodded again. The shadows across his face shifted, and Leon realised he was looking at the man he once thought was infallible—amazing, and without fault. 

Over a decade ago, little Champion Leon was a naive boy, he thought. He hoped that right now, Chairman Leon would not be the same.

“Supply and labour…” Rose hummed. “Did you get rid of a sector?”

“Yes.” Leon nodded. “The mining sector.”

Rose hummed again, shaking his head. “Macro Cosmos is built on mining, Leon. It will not survive without mining.” He gestured at the blood bag next to him. “It would be like taking me away from my transfusions. I’m sure _you _knew that—if not you, then Oleana.”

Leon frowned deeply. “We’re trying to repeal Dexit.”

“Oh?” Rose cocked his head, and Leon’s hands balled into tight fists on the armrests of his chair. “How do you plan on doing that?”

“Well, Dexit exists because of the state of the environment here in Galar. Getting rid of what I can is going to help improve the environment, and mining is one major factor contributing to deforestation, and environmental degradation.” Leon remembered the seminar that Professor Kukui and Sonia held together (Professor Kukui, remotely) for the shareholders and executive committee of Macro Cosmos, and the discussion they had then. “If we had reduced mining, and any other erosive environmental practices, we could improve Galar.”

“Leon, you cannot have both.” Rose’s stern voice made Leon stop in his tracks, and the young man stared at him in awe as the man continued. “You can’t have _no _mining, and yet have the research and development team alive. Oleana’s team, and other technological branches of Macro Cosmos, rely on the raw materials obtained from mining. There’s also the concern for all the lost livelihoods as well—what happened to the employees from the mining sector?” 

“We did our best to reassign as much as we could, but… we had to lay off a lot of people.” Leon explained sheepishly. Rose shook his head, shutting his eyes as he sighed. 

“And they protested because of that, didn’t they?” He asked, and Leon bit his lip. 

“You knew.” 

“I have a telly.” Rose cocked his head slightly, and his smile made anger burn up Leon’s throat.

“Yes.” He said, his voice tight.

“I see.” Rose paused for a moment to think. “Leon, those people in the mines… were people I once knew.” 

“Huh?” Leon blinked at him.

“A long time ago, my father used to work in the mines, as well, in the energy sector.” Rose smiled softly, and Leon felt his heart sink.

The man he once looked up to was smiling back at him, and something ached in his chest at the sight of it. 

“One day, he died in a mining accident, and I swore to change the face of how Galar obtains its energy.” He peered at Leon, cocking his head. “Hence, my experiments with Eternatus.”

“You… you _did _say that.” Leon said faintly, “The… the bit about… changing Galar’s energy consumption.”

“Yes. However, to get there, I had to nurture my resources. I built Macro Cosmos on the backs of miners, on the memory of my father.” Rose sighed, shutting his eyes as he leaned back against his backrest. “I hired my father’s old colleagues. We all worked together to make Macro Cosmos what it is now, and you, Leon, owe everything to them as well.”

Leon’s heart sank. 

“But… what about Dexit?”

“If you can strike a balance between the environment and mining, it _is _possible.” Rose said, and Leon jumped. “Since you have no longer any use for the Eternatus Project, Leon, I believe you can gather resources to ensure sustainable practices. That way, mining can stay—_return, _rather—_and _you can work towards improving the environment.”

Rose chuckled, and peered at Leon knowingly. “After all, Macro Cosmos is not the only source of pollution here in Galar.”

Leon’s eyes widened. 

“Anything you have done so far has been moot.” He said, and Leon’s heart sank. “These protests, the wasted resources, the terrible blow to Macro Cosmos—has been for _nothing,_ Leon. If you thought that simply removing MC Mining will solve everything, then, my dear, you truly are still so very naive.”

“I…”

“Have you made progress on the switch to Galar particles?” He asked, and Leon simply blinked at him. “The Spikemuth restoration. Derbyton. Power Spots that need revival—have you made any progress on that?”

“No.” Leon said faintly, gritting his teeth as he glowered at Rose. “But Oleana’s working hard to get somewhere.”

“Why, I wonder why she cannot do it much faster?” Rose cocked his head, smiling. “Ah, yes. The inept little boy of a chairman has let her down and stripped her of her resources.”

The comment had come out of nowhere, and Leon felt like he’d been slapped. Red flashed across his vision, and he gripped his armrests tightly.

“_Don’t you dare, Rose._” He snarled. “You left _everything _for her to do when you were in my place.”

“Yet _I_ know how to run a company, my dear.” Rose said pleasantly. “Leon, you’re an intelligent boy—but you are only good at battling, and very little else.” He leaned forward, still maintaining that placid expression as rage began to bubble under Leon’s skin. “Tell me, do you still get lost? Does Macro Cosmos still take extreme measures to make sure you find your office?”

“That’s none of your business.” Leon snarled.

“If I remember correctly, Leon, everything about you _is _my business.” Rose replied. “I _let _you run my company. I was raising you to be the _perfect _replacement—to grow into a man like me.”

“_I am not you._” Leon shot up to his feet. 

_I’m not the Chairman, _he’d said so long ago, in a fancy hotel penthouse suite.

“Leon, you already are.” Rose smiled, cocking his head. “You’ve become more and more like myself when I was younger, it’s _astounding._ We’re nothing like my niece and her father—she’s _nothing_ like him, and she will never _be _anywhere _close _to what he’s accomplished as a Champion.”

There it was—the green-eyed monster that lived in Leon’s head for over ten years, rearing its ugly head as Leon’s breaths grew shallower and shallower. 

“But _you, _Leon, I _know_ you—I see right through you. You and I think alike, just as I had ingrained in you since you were very young.” Rose’s smile hadn’t changed a bit, though his voice began to hold the venom that Leon knew all too well. “Whatever your goal is, you and I both know what the solution is to all of our problems.”

“I’m not you.” Leon shook his head, though his voice was much fainter now, his gut sinking as he remembered his conversation with Marnie.

_“Leon, you said you wouldn’t become like him.” _

He was not the Chairman. Not Rose—_never _someone like Rose. 

_“No matter what, you’d stay the way you are.”_

“You, to repel the PSEA, me, to preserve Galar’s beauty forever,” Rose said, “You have the answer in your grasp, Leon, tell me its name.”

“No.” Leon shakily said, “It is _not _the answer.”

“Then everything you are working for will never happen, no matter what you do.” Rose grinned. “The Power Spot of Derbyton will die, and Spikemuth will rot away, forever stuck under construction, because of _your _failure.”

_His_ failure? The rage in Leon’s heart began to swell more and more, as anger surged up his throat, burning like bile. _His _failure, when Rose had been the one to tear Spikemuth to the ground? _His _failure, when Rose purposely ignored Derbyton for so long?

“_My _failure?” Leon snapped, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Rose, but _I _am the one cleaning up after _your _mess. _I’m _the one _actually _improving Galarian lives—”

“Don’t tell me this is about improving Galar, boy.” Rose finally snapped, and Leon’s mouth clamped shut on muscle memory, his entire body clenching, readying itself for a blow that he knew wouldn’t come—not with the plexiglass between them, not with the eyes watching them, not with the IV in Rose’s arm. “You’re a selfish, greedy little thing—this is _not _about Galar.”

His grin widened into a smirk.

“This is about Raihan, isn’t it?”

“Shut the hell up.” Leon snarled. “You don’t get to talk about _anything _about me. _You _did this to me—you’ve cut me off from the world, my family, for so _fucking _long, used me as your damned _cash cow, _an _ornament _to charm disgusting perverts into paying sponsorship money!” His voice kicked up into a shout, and Leon could only hear his blood rushing in his ears, the thunderous clamour of his heart in his chest. “You pushed me to the brink, and _off it,_ in the name of becoming the strongest for over ten _godawful _years, monitoring _every little thing _I did.”

He laughed shakily, shaking his head.

“_I’m _selfish? Then that must mean _you’re _even more selfish.” 

_I’m not the Chairman,_ he’d said then, watching as Raihan melted from the inside of a rut neither of them had understood.

He wasn’t Rose—he wasn’t a man who stood by and watched the world burn, he wasn’t a man who took advantage of others at their weakest. 

“I’m my own person.” Leon snarled, “And I’m not the one standing by watching people self-destruct for some self-righteous bullshit I won’t even get to see in the end.” He said coldly, and Rose met his gaze evenly. “I have my own reasons, my own way of doing things, and they are _far _from how you do things.”

“I don’t remember _this _impertinence.” Rose murmured, and Leon leered at him.

“You seem to only remember things that benefited you.” Leon snapped, “Like my open wounds, or the things that had made people blind to what kind of monster you could be.”

“Monster is a bit too harsh,” Rose laughed, “Remember not to be taken away too strongly by your emotions, Leon—and I remember the things that are important.”

“Do you remember Bede?” Leon asked, and Rose paused. The silence between them stretched on uncomfortably long, and Leon shook his head in disgust. “This conversation is over. Thank you for your help, this will be all.” He said, and got up.

“What is the meaning of this?” Rose asked, and Leon smirked dryly at him. 

“You said you remember the important things, Rose.” He said, “Clearly, you do not.”

He gave Rose a bow, and strode to the door. 

“Are you trying to pull out the rug underneath my feet with nonsense since you’ve lost?” Rose asked, and Leon shook his head, pushing the door open to reveal Bede standing outside, staring into the room with wide eyes. Rose stopped, and Leon looked at him over his shoulder to see the look of surprise—genuine, this time—on the man’s face. 

“Thank you for your time.” Leon said simply, and shut the door behind him. He looked down at Bede, who was still staring at the door, wide-eyed, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Bede, I’m so sorry.”

“I… I should have known.” He said softly, and Peony sighed, striding up behind him to pull him into a hug. “I should have—I—”

Leon looked behind him at the door, and he saw Detective Robin making sure that it was locked. The windows were frosted again, and he felt relief wash over him. 

“Mr. Chairman,” Detective Robin said, and Leon nodded at him, smiling sheepishly when the man patted his shoulder. “I’m… very sorry.” He looked at Leon with sympathy in his eyes, and Leon shrugged, heaving a heavy sigh.

“That’s why I’m in therapy.” He said, and turned back to Bede, who had clung onto Peony’s arm gingerly as the man soothed him with pats to his head. “And so should you, Bede.”

“I… we _did _make an agreement.” Bede replied. “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That felt… excruciatingly painful, like a bandage being ripped off all at once.”

“At least it’s gone.” Peony said, and the teen sniffled, but laughed dryly, nodding. Peony turned to Leon, and gave him a sad smile. “Maybe this’ll keep him away from Rose from now on.”

“Yes, it will.” Bede huffed. “You’ve set me free, Mr. Chairman, so I should… see Dr. Grana, as well. I owe you at least that much.”

“Thank you.” Leon sighed. “Mr. Peony, could you—”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Peony nodded, “I’ll bring him back to Opal and let her know about going to therapy.” 

Leon gave him a tired little smile, and nodded. Bede cast one last look at Leon, and together, he and Peony strode away. Detective Robin stood next to him, sighing tiredly, as Leon rubbed his arm.

“Still a right bastard, I see.” Detective Robin said, and Leon let out a surprised bark of a laugh. The older man smiled, and patted Leon’s back. “I hope you got what you needed in there.”

“I hope I never have to come back in there.” Leon shook his head. “There _has _to be some other person I can talk to about this… and I don’t trust the board of directors at MC, either.”

Robin hummed, and ushered Leon to walk alongside him out of the prison block. 

“Oh, what about Steven Stone?” He asked, and Leon blinked at him. “He’s a Champion like you, too, and I think the Devon Corporation is about the same size as Macro Cosmos.”

“I… beg your pardon?” Leon said slowly, and Robin shook his head. 

“You didn’t know?” He asked. “Champion Steven is the CEO of Devon Corporation. He’s been CEO for a few years now, but from what I heard, he’d been trained to be CEO since he was younger.” 

Steven Stone.

Leon’s eyes widened, and finally, he remembered Steven—he hadn’t just met him at Worlds. 

_“Champion Leon, hello! It’s nice to see a familiar face here.”_

The blurry face came back into focus, and Steven Stone’s kind smile and soft silver hair came back to him, lit by the sparkling lights of the Rose of the Rondelands.

_“It must be boring, huh… these fancy business conventions.” _Steven had laughed softly. _“Sorry we didn’t get the chance to talk during Worlds.”_

And that was it—as Rose came back to Leon, pulling him away to meet with a Unovan investor, leaving him to longingly meet Steven’s surprised gaze as they were pulled apart.

“Oh, shit.” Leon said faintly as he and Robin stopped at his car, and the detective gave him a sympathetic smile. “You’re right.”

“If you want help for anything else, I think you should start turning to Mr. Stone, instead.” Detective Robin said, and looked at his watch. “I’d like to take you with me to lunch, if that’s alright with you. I have something else to discuss.”

“O-oh, of course.” Leon looked at his own watch, and sighed. “I _do _have an appointment with my therapist at 1, though…”

“We won’t take long.” Robin smiled, and gestured at his car. “Please, have a seat.”

* * *

There was a tall, sharply-dressed man in Café Violette when Leon and Robin arrived. Leon blinked at the man as he chatted with Leah pleasantly, and Robin lit up in recognition. 

“Mr. Chairman, you’re just in time.” He said, ushering Leon inside. “This is my husband, [Arsene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Lupin). He’s the owner of Café Violette.”

The man—Arsene, presumably—turned at the mention of his name, and lit up at the sight of them, giving Leon a grandiose bow. 

“Ah, bonjour.” He greeted, offering his hand for Leon to take as he straightened up, and Leon nodded, taking Arsene’s proffered hand, and the man kissed his knuckles. Leon flushed deeply as Arsene let him go with a fond chuckle. “I’ve taken the liberty of asking for your usual orders,” He gestured at a table for three by the back of the café. “Ace and his partners will have our orders brought by.”

“Thanks.” Robin smiled, and Leon nodded, following after the husbands. He peered over at Leah, and gave her a friendly wave when she met his gaze. She beamed at him, and waved back, before heading into the kitchen to start working with the other Pokémon of the café. 

“This way, please.” Arsene’s voice caught Leon’s attention, and he hurried to their table, sitting down with a sigh as the older men settled down across him. “Now, Chairman Leon, it is truly wonderful to meet you. I’ve heard very good things about you from both my Robin and our children.”

“Th-thanks.” Leon smiled sheepishly. “I… really can’t say the same of myself, as of late, but I appreciate the compliment.” He looked down at the matching gold bands on Arsene and Robin’s fingers, and he smiled. “So, um… your café is fantastic. Are you Kalosian?”

“Yes, I am.” Arsene nodded. “Born and raised in Kalos. I’ve been told the Pokémon Professor and I look very alike.” 

“Oh, now that you mention it.” Leon sat up a little straighter, and noted the man’s elegant black curls, and his slim build. “You… kinda do.”

“Have you met him?” Arsene cocked his head, and Leon shrugged.

“Only briefly.” He replied. “When I went to Kalos on League business, a long time ago… actually, I do need to talk to him.”

“Augustine has mentioned that he would like a word with you too, actually.” Arsene hummed, and Leon blinked at him. “Ah, yes. Augustine and I have been close friends since our youth, and we keep in frequent contact. It was one of the things I would like to discuss with you—Augustine has no contact with you, and so he asked me if I could find a way to reach you.”

“Oh!” Leon lit up. “Yes, I actually do need to speak with him too.”

“Perhaps you and Augustine have a topic in common.” Arsene hummed. “Do you have a means of contact that I may forward to him?”

“Yes,” Leon nodded eagerly, and pulled his wallet out of his pocket, rifling through it to produce a business card, which he handed over to Arsene with a polite little bow. “Here you go. The Professor may contact me using any of the information on there.”

“Thank you very much.” Arsene hummed, tucking the card into his coat breast pocket. “There is… another topic I would like to discuss, Mr. Chairman.”

A Lucario’s bark caught their attention, and Leon lit up to see Leah’s Lucario standing by their table, grinning widely as he held up two trays that had their food on it. 

“Oh, Ace! Hello.” Leon greeted, helping the Lucario set down their dishes on the table, before scratching the Pokémon under his chin. “Nice to see you, boy!”

The Lucario barked happily, thumping his foot on the floor for a moment, and Arsene chuckled. 

“Thank you, Ace, you may go now.” He said, and the Lucario gave him a bow, before scurrying away. 

“Oh, are they all yours?” Leon asked, and Arsene shook his head.

“They are rescues, all of the staff here.” He said, and Leon hummed, nodding, and his eyes widened when he saw an unfamiliar little black bird Pokémon perched on the head of a Steenee as she hummed to herself, working in the kitchen. Leon gaped at it, and turned back to Arsene. 

“Is that…”

“Yes, it’s a Pokémon banned by Dexit.” Robin said, and Leon turned to look at him. He whistled at the kitchen, and the bird looked up, before flying over to him, perching on his head, curiously pecking at his hair. He laughed softly, and gently set it down on the table. “This is a Starly, Mr. Chairman.”

“There are other PSEA-banned Pokémon in my kitchen, Mr. Chairman, and their numbers seem to be growing day by day.” Arsene said, and Leon bit his lip. “While I am aware your bleeding heart will allow me to continue my operations like this freely, I cannot say the same for these Pokémon, their trainers that have lost them, and the authorities.” 

“Where did you find them?”

“Places,” Arsene made a vague gesture. “I own a vineyard, ranches, and a Combee farm, and little strays tend to wander in. I am growing concerned that more and more banned Pokémon have been appearing in the wild, and I cannot help but wonder where they are coming from.”

“I… I see.” Leon frowned. 

“Mr. Chairman, I fear that Team Rocket may be at work once again.” Arsene said, and Leon’s expression tightened. “Though I cannot say with certainty that they are the cause of this, I also cannot rule out the possibility. Please be on your guard.”

“I will.” Leon said firmly. “I’ll look into this. Thank you for telling me, monsieur.” He nodded, and Arsene smiled knowingly. 

“Of course. I will contact Augustine as soon as I can, so he may reach out to you.”

“Thanks.” Leon smiled, and the older man gestured at their food. 

“Now, shall we?” He asked, and Leon nodded, laughing softly as the three of them settled down to eat. Leon couldn’t get the Starly out of his mind, and he petted it gently as they ate, frowning slightly. 

More and more banned Pokémon are running free, but his efforts to improve the environment have yet to actually take effect. There was something not adding up here, and Leon had the sinking feeling that Arsene’s hunch was right.

That would mean that Team Rocket was done hiding in the dark. 

He shared a look with Detective Robin, who gave him a reassuring nod.

They would both have to be careful, it seemed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, this arsene is mostly inspired by [arsene persona 5](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1187285323920732160?s=20) but who cares about details. he's [best friends with augustine sycamore](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1297195601273032704?s=20) and many arsene persona5game gijinkas make him look very similar to joker, but a bit more mature. my dick said "he looks exactly like augustine, but clean-shaven and very well-put together". i said yes.
> 
> yes, i finally explained what the hell leon was talking about in [secondary typing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22068571), the og.


	62. The Forest Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’d been taking it easy for a bit, actually.”
> 
> “Really? I thought a guy like you would get through the Gym Challenge as fast as you could.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning: mention of needles, intravenous injections. two people will be living exclusively off fluids, and details will be glossed over slightly. if you're squeamish about needles, please watch out when wallace appears in the chapter.

**A FEW WEEKS LATER**

“Mega Venusaur is unable to battle! Altaria wins! The winner of this match is Raihan of Hammerlocke!”

“Let’s go, Janus!” Raihan yelled delightedly, and Janus cawed proudly, spreading his wings as he towered over Gardenia’s fainted Mega Venusaur, which reverted to her regular form. The redhead laughed, shaking her head fondly as she put her Pokémon back into her Pokéball. 

“You’re really tough, Raihan!” She said, nodding as one of her Gym Trainers handed her a velvet-lined tray. “Thanks,” she smiled, and turned to see Raihan being tackled by his Altaria, the young man bursting into delighted laughter as the dragon enveloped him with his massive, fluffy wings. Gardenia giggled, and made her way over to him, watching him struggle with his Altaria for a moment before Raihan finally managed to make Janus get off him, laughing fondly. 

“Hey.” He greeted, and she grinned back at him.

“Hey.” She said back, offering her hand for him to take. He grabbed her hand, and Gardenia pulled him up onto his feet with a huff. “You’ve got quite a performer there, you know.” She gestured at Janus, who was preening as the little crowd they’d gathered in Gardenia’s Gym fawned over him. 

“Really.” Raihan chuckled, and Gardenia laughed, nodding. 

“Totally.” She smiled, and raised the velvet-lined tray, meeting Raihan’s gaze with determination. “As proof of your victory, this is the Forest Badge.” 

Raihan lit up, and gently plucked the badge off the case, grinning as he inspected it shimmering in the light. “Thanks.” He said, “That was a fun battle.”

“Your Altaria’s a real star of the show.” Gardenia shook her head fondly. “I’ve heard about your weather tactics, and I was pretty pleased to learn we had similar techniques.”

“Your Roserade’s Weather Ball hit like a truck, you know.” Raihan said, and she burst out laughing, shaking her head as Raihan snickered behind his hand. “So, dinner?”

“Ooh, the famous Dinner-with-Raihan I keep hearing about.” Gardenia grinned, “Of course that’s a yes—just lemme close up first, okay?”

“You know it.” Raihan gave her a mock salute, and she beamed at him. “Catch you in the lobby!” 

“See ya!” She gave him a wave, and hurried away. Raihan turned to Janus, who had finally calmed down after the crowd had left, and the Altaria looked bereft. He laughed softly, and reached out to pet the Altaria’s head.

“Hey, bud.” He said gently, and Janus pressed his head into Raihan’s hand. “Gotcha, gotcha. Here’s the pets.” He laughed, petting Janus’s head, and he sighed. “Look at you, all grown up now.”

Janus looked up at him, and Raihan laughed softly, shaking his head. 

“You know, back in the Lake of Life, the team told me that you said you were Arceus’s messenger… someday, I wanna hear from you, too.” He murmured. “Why me?”

“I do not know either,” Janus said, though he knew Raihan wouldn’t understand him. “Nor do I understand why It felt the need to have me evolve… and so soon, as well.”

“Ah, whatever. The next time we’re in the Lake of Life, we’ll see.” Raihan grinned, scratching Janus under his beak. “We’d better not hold up the staff by loitering around here, huh?”

“Ah, yes.” Janus bowed his head, and Raihan put him back into his Pokéball, before hurrying out of the Gym.

* * *

“And like, I _knew _it sounded _crazy, _but when I looked out the window, the sky was just pitch black, and there was a _really big _Pokémon on Mt. Coronet, it was _actually insane._” Gardenia gestured widely, and Raihan laughed into his stein of Sinnoh Shōchū, which was a sparkling blue that complemented the sparkly pink in Gardenia’s stein. “I _wish _Rotom Phones were around back then, because that was _craaazy._”

“I heard from Cynthia that the current Champion sorted that out?” Raihan asked, and she nodded. 

“Yeah. Don’t know the full details, but apparently some evil team pissed off the Legendaries up on Mt. Coronet and messed up _big time._” She took a swig from her shōchū, heaving a deep sigh. “But that’s in the past. The following lockdown wasn’t _that _bad, all things considered.”

“Yeah?” Raihan raised an eyebrow, and Gardenia nodded. 

“The damage was pretty minimal, and while there was some funky stuff in the earth after the whole thing, it was generally harmless.” She explained. “I guess the lockdown was just a formality thing, all things considered. Which is _weird, _since we, uh,” Gardenia made another vague gesture, “Y’know, made a new universe, or something.”

“Maybe that’s what the lockdown was for, to recover from that.” Raihan laughed softly, and Gardenia shrugged. 

“Guess so.” She hummed. “By the way, you do Contests, right?”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Though I gotta admit, I haven’t been in one for a while… I’d been meaning to ask you about that, actually.”

“Hey!” Gardenia lit up. “You see, a new Contest Hall is opening for the first time next week here in Eterna City. Could I ask you to be there too? We’re holding a Contest for the first time, and I’d really like to pull people in as much as possible.”

“Oh!” Raihan grinned, and he nodded eagerly. “Of course!”

“That’s wonderful!” Gardenia lit up. “I’ll get you a cottage to stay in for the time being, since I’m kinda pulling you out of your journey for a minute…”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Raihan said pleasantly, “I’d been taking it easy for a bit, actually.”

“Really?” Gardenia blinked. “I thought a guy like you would get through the Gym Challenge as fast as you could.” 

“Yeah, well… it’s just for a month.” Raihan laughed sheepishly, and peered out the window of the little restaurant they were in. Mt. Coronet’s peak was visible in the distance, and his expression tightened. “One… month.”

“One… month.” Gardenia hummed. “Guess you’re taking a break, huh? Makes sense.” 

“Yeah.” Raihan laughed weakly, and she gave him a reassuring smile. “Thought I’d slow down for a bit and take in my surroundings.”

“Sounds good to me.” She nodded determinedly, and pumped her fist into the air. “And I’ll help you with your routine, too! Least I could do.”

“Thank you so much!” Raihan lit up, “That’d be a big help.”

* * *

“_Hm._”

Wallace’s unimpressed expression never meant anything good. 

Raihan winced as the older man hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin as Gardenia bit her lip, looking at him expectantly. Gardenia had admitted it was her first time coming up with the choreography for a Contest Performance, so Raihan decided to give Wallace a call—at a reasonable time, of course. 

Hoenn wasn’t that far away from Sinnoh in terms of time zone, anyway—about an hour apart, compared to the nine hours between Sinnoh and Galar—and Raihan knew Wallace had very little else to do than stay at home. 

“_What did you say the theme was, again?_” He asked. 

“‘_The mystery of history_,’ they said.” Gardenia replied, peering at her Rotom Phone as she pouted thoughtfully. “I guess since it’s the first Contest here, they wanted to tie it closer to the town… I’ll have my Grass-type theme next time…”

Wallace laughed softly, shaking his head, and Raihan gave him a sheepish little grin.

“_Well,_” He said, “_I suppose, by now, Raihan, you know what this face says._” Wallace made the unimpressed expression again, and Raihan winced, laughing exasperatedly. 

“Sorry. Guess I’m just not built for this stuff.”

“_And I have told you that this takes practice, which, as of late, I know you have had very little of._” Wallace gave him a meaningful look, and Raihan nodded gingerly. “_Well, it was quite inspired of you two to tell a story—I think that would be a fantastic way to tie into the theme. As for the moves, I’m very pleased to see you use Moonblast with Rain Dance for this—very reminiscent of Johto, I must say—but I have a few concerns. Would you mind if we went through the routine again?_”

“No prob.” Raihan nodded, and Gardenia heaved a sigh of relief.

“Not gonna lie, the Moonblast and Rain Dance was the only thing I really had a concrete grasp of.” Gardenia snickered, and Raihan gave her a grin. “Other than that, I was kinda winging it.”

“Me too.” Raihan murmured back at her, and Wallace clicked his tongue.

“_Care to share with the class?_” He asked, but he was smiling fondly. 

“No, sir.” Raihan stuck his tongue out at him cheekily, and Wallace tutted. 

“_Impertinent!_” He huffed, and dissolved into laughter. “_Oh, I’m turning into Juan._”

“_Uncle Juan?_” A little boy’s voice chimed from the phone, and Raihan jumped. Gardenia lit up, and she hurried to Raihan’s side, hugging his arm as they both looked up at Raihan’s floating phone. 

“Is that Cobalt?” She gasped, “Cute little Cobalt Stone I’ve been hearing about on the net?”

“_Ah, yes._” Wallace smiled, and waved for someone offscreen to come over to him. Gardenia squealed happily when a little boy—almost a perfect splice between Steven and Wallace, Raihan realised—hurried up to Wallace, and jumped onto his lap with a delighted cheer. “_Oof!_” Wallace winced, and Raihan flinched slightly when the boy turned around to look at his father’s phone to show that little Cobalt had the same yellow eyes as Steven had. There was a port-a-cath in the boy’s arm, and a tube leading from the port entered a Swablu-shaped bag the boy was wearing. Raihan had to tear his eyes away from the boy, letting Gardenia shuffle forward in front of him to look at the screen.

The intensification of the rock-typing apparently hadn’t just been total loss of sensation. When they went back to Wallace’s hotel room in Oreburgh, they sat down to have tea together, only for Steven’s body to utterly reject it. The breakfast the next day was even worse. Steven couldn’t eat anything, apparently—it was unclear how, but his body seemed to reject all biological matter that passed into his digestive tract, and so the Stones had to head home immediately to see his doctor. They managed to figure out that Steven couldn’t absorb nutrients—he could digest them well enough, but absorption had been the problem—and when nothing could be absorbed, his body rejected the foreign matter inside it. 

When he received the news, Raihan was on the road again, making the slow journey from Oreburgh to Eterna, camping out and on a video call with Cynthia and Wallace.

“_Steven can’t eat anything,_” Wallace had said, teary-eyed, voice trembling, and it felt like a knife rammed into Raihan’s gut. “_He’s just… he’s just wasting away, we can’t—we can’t figure it out._”

Luckily, the best doctors money could buy in Hoenn managed to get a needle through Steven’s impenetrable skin, and he could live off liquids for the time being. Wallace had told Raihan and Cynthia that Cobalt had been affected, too—Raihan _knew _this, but now, seeing the boy for the first time, his stomach twisted in discomfort, and he shrank away from his phone as Gardenia cooed in delight. 

“Oh, what a cutie!” She cheered, and Cobalt laughed brightly, giving her an enthusiastic wave. “He’s like a mini Champion Steven!”

“_Thank you._” Wallace chuckled, “_Cobalt, say hello._”

“_Hello!_” The boy greeted Raihan and Gardenia with another wave, this time with both his hands, and Gardenia squealed in delight. 

“Baby!” She cheered, and Raihan laughed softly. “Oh, what’s that, darling?” Gardenia gasped, and Cobalt, pouted, picking at his port-a-cath. Wallace tutted softly, and pulled his son’s hand away. 

“_It’s a port for an intravenous catheter._” Wallace said, “_He’s… a little sick at the moment, so he needs treatment._”

“Oh, I see…” Gardenia pursed her lips, and peered at Raihan, as if sensing his discomfort.

“_Alright, that’s enough distracting baby boy,_” Steven’s voice came in from the phone too, and Raihan felt his heart sink when Steven strode in, wearing orange-tinted sunglasses. Raihan’s gut twisted when he saw Steven wheeling behind him a pole that had a fluid bag hanging from it. The tubing from the bag went into his shirt, and Raihan remembered that Steven’s catheter was in his chest. “_Hey, guys. Sorry, lemme just pick up this guy here._” He made a grunting sound, picking Cobalt up off Wallace’s lap, and Gardenia waved him goodbye. 

“Bye, Cobalt!” She called, and Raihan waved gingerly at the camera, too, as Steven gave them a sheepish little grin. 

“_Hi, Raihan! We’ll wait for your contest live stream when it’s on._” He said, and Raihan nodded, smiling sadly as Steven strode offscreen, pulling his pole with him. Wallace sighed happily, shaking his head, before turning his attention back to Raihan and Gardenia. 

“_Excuse me,_” He chuckled, and Gardenia shook her head.

“It’s no problem at all.” she said, “You’ve got a darling boy, Leader Wallace!”

“_Thank you._” Wallace smiled. Raihan heaved a sigh of relief when Gardenia tactfully didn’t mention Steven’s own fluid pole—if she had asked, he didn’t know what he would have done. Wallace flicked his hair back over his shoulder, and nodded. “_Alright. Back to the routine—I want this _perfect, _Raihan, because _this _time, you’re telling the world I taught you how to coordinate like that._”

“Yessir.” Raihan grinned, and felt some semblance of himself return when Wallace gave him a reassuring smile. 

“_Now, let's get to work, shall we?_”

* * *

“_The theme for this Contest is the mystery of history. In the town built to preserve the past, how can these Coordinators showcase the eternal beauty of our very own Eterna City? Let’s find out!_”

“You remember your moves?” Gardenia asked stiffly, yanking on Raihan’s lapels, and he grinned, nodding.

“Yes.” He said. 

“Remember your umbrella?” 

“Yep.”

“Remember your Seals?”

“Uh huh.”

“Remember your fashion glasses—”

“Chill out, Gardenia.” Raihan laughed, holding her shaking hands as he pulled them off his lapels. She looked up at him with sheer _nerves _on her face, and he patted her cheeks gently. “Take it easy. We’re gonna be okay.”

“I-I know. B-but I really want you to win.” She said, and Raihan nodded. 

“Then I’ll do my best.” He smiled at her, and Gardenia calmed down somewhat, nodding at him as she did her best to put a smile on her face. “Sorry I’m going up last.”

“It’s okay.” Gardenia sighed, and nodded. “Do your best out there, Raihan.”

“You know it.” Raihan winked. “I won’t let you down.”

* * *

Leon took a long breath, melting into the pillows of his couch as he cuddled Pumpkin close to his heart, sitting through all the other Contest performances in Eterna City’s first-ever Pokémon Contest. Around him, his and Raihan’s teams were in varying states of interest, with Sandie the only one particularly interested, currently sitting next to Leon on the couch while Red dozed off on a cushion on the floor.

It seemed Sandie very much enjoyed Contest performances, too—he could see the Sandaconda’s eyes sparkle with a heartrending energy that Leon hardly saw in the rest of Sandie’s aching, elderly body. Leon smiled as Sandie once again lit up at the end of a Contest performance, and he reached down—very carefully, to not wake Pumpkin—to scratch the Sandaconda’s head affectionately.

“You like Contests, Sandie?” He asked, and the Sandaconda gently nudged at Leon’s phone. “Oh?” Leon picked it up to see no notifications, but the way Sandie looked at him made Leon realise what he meant, especially when he saw the way Raihan’s beautiful smile graced his phone background. 

“Oh, you like it when _Raihan _performs.” He said, “You… you imagine him doing all those performances, huh?” He asked, and Sandie nodded slowly. Leon chuckled, and stroked his head. Sandie huffed, and Leon lit up, bursting into laughter when Sandie began to sway, as if dancing. “Sandie! You wanna perform too, don’t you!” 

Sandie huffed, and rested himself on top of Leon’s stomach, right behind Pumpkin, so he wouldn’t disturb her. The little Trapinch woke up anyway, gnashing her jaws gently in confusion as Leon stroked her head. 

“Aw, bud… I’ll make sure that when Raihan comes home, he’ll dance with you.” Leon said, and Sandie made a sound of contentment, rubbing his head against Leon’s stomach. The man smiled fondly, and stroked Sandie gently, too. 

The Sandaconda hissed softly, an odd, grating sort of a laugh that sounded sadder than amused. 

“No, I don’t think so.” He said.

Red raised his head from where he had been napping to look at Sandie, who sighed contentedly as he rested against Leon’s stomach. 

“Sandie?” he asked, and the Sandaconda hissed at him placatingly.

“Hush, boy.” The old Pokémon said, “Rest now, Raihan will take a while yet.”

“Uh… okay.” Red lowered his head back onto his cushion, and looked off to the side worriedly. 

Why didn’t Sandie think so?

* * *

Raihan looked himself over in the full-length mirror, nodding to himself. Tonight, he was in a simple white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of brown slacks that only came down to above his ankles—he and Gardenia couldn’t find a pair long enough for him, and Gardenia said it looked charming enough. To make up for it, Gardenia gave him a pair of brown argyle socks, and Raihan got himself a pair of coloured brogues. They threw on a pair of suspenders—one hooked over his shoulder, while the other one was left hanging freely. He had pulled his dreads into a low ponytail, and tucked them all under a newsboy hat. He had his usual studs on his ears, and the look was completed with a pair of round fashion glasses Gardenia had lying around her house. 

“Shit, I look like one of them cute nerds back at Hammerlocke U.” He grinned, shaking his head as he inspected his hair for any errant strands, and nodded when he saw none. “I bet Leon would lose his _shit _if he saw me now.”

The Jubilife Contest Ribbon was pinned to his suspender—the one hooked over his shoulder—and Raihan patted it gently, making sure it was completely covered with the protective film a staff member handed to him earlier. He picked up a black umbrella, and grinned to himself, patting the two Sealed Pokéballs in his pocket. 

“Let’s do this.” 

“_Ladies and gentlemen, with one Contest Ribbon, it’s Raihan of Hammerlocke City!_”

Raihan emerged from the side of the stage, whistling pleasantly as he spun the umbrella in his hand. The crowd burst into cheers as he faced away from them, tapping his umbrella into the ground as he held it in front of him like a cane with one hand, holding Gooms’s ball in the other. 

He took a deep breath. 

“Here we go.”

The spotlight shone on him, and an upbeat song began to play as he threw Gooms’s ball up into the air. She came out of her Pokéball in a burst of bolts of electricity, twirling on her toes as the crowd cheered for her.

“Rain Dance!” He called, and she began to dance, cooing delightedly as Raihan spun around, twirling the umbrella in his hand before snapping it open, moving forward to begin tap dancing with Gooms while he kept himself mostly dry with the umbrella. He turned her once, and they bowed at each other. Raihan peered at Gooms, grinning, and she grinned back at him. “Thunder!” He ordered, and she stood up straight, throwing her arms to the sky as Raihan threw out Janus’s Pokéball, the Altaria emerging from the blue Sealed ball in billowing wisps of white smoke as Gooms’s Thunder came crashing down. 

He cawed proudly, spreading his gorgeous, newly-groomed tail feathers, earning him cheers from the crowd as the rain clouds began to dissipate around him.

“Moonblast!”

Janus cawed, the hazy image of a shimmering moon emerging behind him as he spread his wings, too, and Raihan tossed his umbrella to Gooms, who shielded herself from the moonlight. The crowd gasped in awe as Raihan turned to Janus, raising his hands up to him, and the Altaria flew down, letting Raihan hold his wings as they spun together towards the audience. 

“Sing!” He called, and Janus began to sing the Dragon’s Lullaby with a clear, beautiful voice as Gooms tossed Raihan his umbrella back, the two of them reuniting as Raihan took hold of her paws. “Gooms, Surf!”

Gooms shot out a wave of water towards Janus, who flew up into the air again as he sang, captivating the audience. Raihan let the umbrella go letting it flow down along the water, and Janus picked it up with his feet, tossing it into the air. 

“Hurricane!” He called, hurrying forward to catch the umbrella’s handle and Janus flapped his wings, making Raihan and the umbrella rise into the air. The crowd burst into cheers, and Raihan grinned down at Gooms. “Rain Dance!” 

Gooms began to dance again, falling into position in front of Janus as the Altaria braced himself. 

“Moonblast!” He grinned, pressing a button on the umbrella, and the black cover came off to reveal a sparkling golden canopy underneath it. 

Janus cried out as a moon shimmered into view behind him, making the gold of Raihan’s umbrella _shine _as Gooms’s rainclouds gathered around her, protecting her from the brunt of the Fairy-type attack. The pulse of the moonlight sent waterdrops flying, spreading around the stage in a shower of sparkling, diamond-like waterdrops, and the crowd gasped in awe.

“Hurricane!” Raihan called, and Janus let out a weaker Hurricane, slowing Raihan’s descent to the ground and helping him spin as he fell. Gooms caught him as he landed, and he nodded at her, twirling with her and tossing the umbrella aside as Janus struck a pose behind them, his wings lit gold with the spotlight on them. 

He raised Gooms’s paw in his hand, and the three of them ended their performance with a bow. 

The crowd burst into cheers, and Raihan beamed as they stood up straight. He looked at Janus, who moved forward to hold his hand with his wing, and Raihan raised his hands again, grinning widely at the crowd that didn’t seem to want to stop their thunderous applause. 

“That was amazing, Gooms.” Raihan grinned, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek, making her giggle happily. He turned to Janus, and scratched him under his beak. “And you were _amazing _too, Janus. Well done. No broken bones!”

“And no Lake of Life to fix it.” Gooms sighed, as Janus laughed to himself.

“That was my precise line of thinking, Gooms.” He said, and she smiled at him. “I have kept the dragonborn safe, for all of us.”

“Thank you.” She said warmly, and Raihan patted his Pokémon gently. 

“Alright, you two, back in.” He said, and put them back into their Pokéballs. He gave the crowd one last wave, grinning widely, and picked up his umbrella and its cover on his way backstage.

* * *

“Aw, shit!” Gardenia was grinning from ear to ear as Raihan proudly held up the Eterna Contest Ribbon for her to see—it had a beautiful golden acorn as a badge, and a pair of gorgeous emerald green silk ribbons hung from beneath the acorn. “Oh, it’s _beautiful._” She sighed happily, gently holding it in her hands as Raihan beamed at her. “I’m so glad, Raihan!”

“It was thanks to your help, too.” He grinned as she handed the ribbon back to him. “Two down, three to go. Who’d have thought, huh?”

“Well, with Contest Master Wallace mentoring you, you’d _better_ make it to the Grand Festival, too!” Gardenia grinned. “Wow, that’s amazing… the Contest Battles really are something else! I could use techniques like that in Gym Battles, too…”

“Oh, no, you’d wipe trainers on the floor with that.” Raihan laughed, and she beamed at him.

“That’s the idea!” She chirped, and they came to a stop as they stepped out of the Contest Hall building when they saw Professor Rowan, Cynthia, and a familiar little girl standing outside. Raihan’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped to see Aphis standing next to Cynthia, her hand in the blonde’s. 

“Aphis?” Raihan breathed, and Aphis lit up, rushing towards him to tackle him in a full-force hug. “Oh, Aphis!” Raihan gasped in relief, and he pulled away from her for a moment to kneel, pulling her into a tight hug. She hugged him back just as tightly, and Raihan didn’t miss the way Cynthia’s expression softened on them. He pulled away from Aphis to cup her face in his hands. “Wh—what’re you doing here?”

“I needed to see you!” She said, her eyes wide in excitement, “I wanted—I wanted to thank you myself! Raihan, thank you so much!” 

“What?” Raihan breathed, as she hugged him again, and Cynthia laughed fondly, patting Gardenia’s shoulder when she looked at her confusedly.

“Sorry, she’s a friend of Raihan’s that he ran into before his journey started.” She explained, “I’ll come pick up the Venusaurite tomorrow, is that okay?”

“Y-yeah, no problem.” Gardenia nodded, and peered at Raihan. “Um… I think this might be a bit too private for me to be witnessing. I should probably go.”

“It might be for the best.” Cynthia nodded gravely, and Gardenia swallowed nervously. “Good night, Gardenia. I’ll make sure to have Raihan see you again before we leave.”

“Sure thing.” She smiled, and turned to look at Raihan. She gave him a wave, and Raihan nodded back at her, before Gardenia strode away. 

“I don’t… understand.” Raihan said faintly, as Aphis beamed up at him.

“It’s back! My secondary typing is back!” She said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “You did that, right? You brought it back! Thank you _so much! _I—I found Honey’s colony again, too! I _got_ her! My bestest friend in the whole wide world is back!” 

Raihan felt his blood grow cold, and Arceus’s chains tightened around his neck slightly. 

_What I have poured into you from the moment you have stepped foot on this land, I will pour into others—into those you cherish._

Nessa. Allister. Steven and Cobalt. _Aphis._

“I…” Raihan gaped at her, and he looked at Cynthia, who nodded sternly, crossing her arms. 

“The girl and her parents came to see me when they made the discovery.” Rowan explained, and Raihan blinked at him as Aphis pulled away, holding Raihan’s hand gleefully as he got back up onto his feet. “We made a few tests, and I have contacted Professor Sonia to ask for her help, as well. We will find out in the coming days if little Aphis here has the _SecTy _gene, or not.”

“I see.” Raihan said faintly, and Rowan gave him a sympathetic look. “That’s great, Aphis.” He smiled, and she beamed at him. “I’m… I’m glad.”

“Mom and Dad saw what you did for the Mega Salamence back in Jubilife City, and they’ve gotten so much better at this secondary typing thing.” Aphis happily reported. “All the kids at school thought you were _so cool! _They think secondary typing is _awesome! _You were right, Raihan, there’s nothing wrong with us!”

With every word Aphis spoke, Raihan felt his heart being ground into pieces, but he managed a smile, nodding as he held the little girl’s hands. “That’s—that’s great, Aphis.” He managed, and Cynthia’s expression fell slightly at him, as Rowan nodded. 

“By the way, fantastic work at the Contest tonight, my boy.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “You, your Goodra, and your Altaria were fantastic.”

“Th-thanks.” Raihan smiled sheepishly, and Cynthia finally smiled. 

“Let’s have dinner together.” She said, “Aphis’s parents are with us too, actually, they’re currently saving us a spot at a restaurant nearby.”

“Oh!” Raihan lit up. “Sure. Could I just,” he made a vague gesture at the Contest Hall behind him. “Let me just clean myself up a bit more before I go face ‘em.”

“Sure thing.” Cynthia chuckled, and Raihan nodded for Aphis to go back to her. The little girl hurried back to Cynthia, holding her hand, and she looked at Raihan eagerly. “I’ll text you directions to the resto.”

“Right.” Raihan nodded. 

“We’ll see you there, okay?” Aphis asked, and Raihan nodded, smiling at her sweetly. 

“I’ll be just a minute.” He said, and hurried back into the Contest Hall, as Cynthia, Rowan, and Aphis strode away. Raihan made his way towards the dressing room—

When a hand shot out from a dark corridor he passed by, and a cloth was pressed over his nose and mouth. Raihan’s eyes widened, and his world faded into darkness. 

His last thought had not been about what just happened, but something completely different—

_At the end of the month, Aphis will lose her typing again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reyna told me it was "healthy for me" to turn comments back on. also because she likes seeing what y'all have to say about our project, so i sincerely apologise to reyna for depriving her of that. i'm not the only person writing tsbu, after all.


	63. The Foreign Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ah, bonjour, Monsieur Leon!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the kalos brainrot continues. this chapter leans a bit heavily on the spinoff titled [convalescence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412) (tl;dr, augustine deals with the legendary lockdown of kalos, and at the end of it, gets engaged to [meyer, clemont and bonnie's dad](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Meyer). oh, [alain's](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Alain) augustine's adoptive son, by the way), but i guess it doesn't really matter _that_ much to the overarching plot of the fic in the long run. just the lil details. 
> 
> meanwhile i got [lysandre and augustine in pokemasu](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1360119798441496578?s=20) and i cannot believe augustine can make lysandre an utter BEAST after landing a sync move or two that's legitimately insane. thank you [kusuribe-san's amazing furapura build](https://twitter.com/kusuribe/status/1359871838545797122?s=20), holy shit. man i love furapura and what an absolute giant mess their interaction was in the give & take event skdlfjkdslfs god fucking bless for the good food. i can't believe pokemasu still validates tsbu <strike>minor spoilers i guess but there's something to note about what augustine says about hope... and when lysandre talks about being a chosen one....</strike>

“Ah, bonjour, Monsieur Leon!” 

Professor Augustine Sycamore really _did _look like Detective Robin’s husband, Leon thought, lighting up when he saw the tall man finally come into view. He waved at the Professor pleasantly as he walked through the arrival hall of the PokéStar Railway, a briefcase in his hand. Right behind him was a lanky, awkwardly tall blond, rolling a suitcase along behind him with what looked like a long purple arm that was coming out of a backpack he was carrying. 

Next to Leon, Ricki whistled lowly. “Fancy.”

“You and I have very different standards of fancy, Ricki.” Leon chuckled, and she grinned behind her hand demurely as he elbowed her lightly. “Behave.” He hissed, snickering, and Ricki giggled as she straightened up just in time for Professor Sycamore to approach them. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you, finally!” He greeted brightly, and Leon was surprised to see a golden band around the man’s ring finger. He didn’t know the Professor was _married, _but he supposed a successful man like Augustine Sycamore would have had a perfect life, renowned as he was. 

“It’s great to meet you, too.” Leon beamed, and the two men shook hands. Sycamore gave Ricki a greeting too, introducing themselves to each other as they shook hands as Leon turned to Sycamore’s companion, and blinked in surprise. “Oh, and you are… Leader Clemont, right?

“Y-yeah.” Clemont nodded, offering his hand to shake, and Leon shook it. “You seem surprised.” He said, smiling slightly, and Leon laughed sheepishly. 

“I just—I thought I remembered you, a while ago, during Worlds in Pasio.” Leon said. “The lights went out…”

“Ah, yes!” Clemont nodded, “Lots of trainers came out of their rooms to see what was wrong.” He laughed sheepishly. “I suppose you’d seen me then.” Clemont rubbed his arm awkwardly, and smiled slightly. “I’ve had a bit of a growth spurt since then.”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded dazedly. 

“His father is a tall man, so I’m not surprised.” Sycamore chuckled, and Leon smiled at that. “Well, now that we’re here, I do believe we should head to Professor Sonia to discuss important matters?”

“Ah, yes.” Leon replied. “Please, right this way.”

Sycamore nodded, and they all strode towards the exit. Leon couldn’t help but peer at Clemont, who had his nose buried in his phone—clearly something he built himself, Leon realised, and he smiled somewhat. Clemont hummed to himself, and shook his head, gently coaxing his Rotom out of his phone and holding it to his heart. 

“Thunder Shock.” He said, and Leon’s eyes widened as the Rotom obeyed, hitting Clemont with a blast of electricity—

But the young man remained nonplussed, though he smiled slightly when the phone pinged the sound that indicated it was charging. Leon gaped at him, but Clemont didn’t seem to notice him, more busy with texting someone on his phone. 

“We call it Clemontic Charge.” Sycamore said, and Leon almost jumped in surprise. The Professor chuckled fondly, and Leon gave him a sheepish smile. “Well, his _little sister _calls it that, and the name stuck.”

“I see.” Leon sighed fondly. “Tell me, Professor, has his typing grown stronger since the last time we talked?”

“Not at all.” Sycamore shook his head. “I have interviewed another possible candidate for secondary typing, Leader Olympia of Anistar City, but she has not reported anything new in her condition, either.”

“That’s strange.” Leon frowned deeply. “So not everyone with secondary typing is experiencing the same thing…”

“Perhaps it may not be secondary typing at all?” Sycamore cocked his head, and Leon sighed. 

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure.” Leon admitted, and they strode out into the bright sunlight. Sycamore lit up when he saw the two Flying Taxis that Ricki had hailed for them earlier, and he clapped delightedly.

“Oh, how marvellous! Flying Taxis!” He cheered, and Leon laughed fondly as Clemont snapped a photo, grinning. “Clemont, send a photo to your father—”

“Already did,” Clemont said, showing Sycamore his phone, and Leon couldn’t help but laugh when he saw a group chat that had multiple text bubbles cooing over the Flying Taxi, Sycamore, and Leon in the picture. “Bonnie says she wants our next holiday to be here.”

“By all means,” Leon nodded eagerly, and Sycamore beamed at him. “We’re doing our best to ensure that all Pokémon from different regions would be permitted entry into Galar.”

“Oh, I have heard about this from Arsene.” Sycamore nodded. “Please, if there’s anything I can do, I’ll gladly help.” 

“Thank you so much.” Leon smiled. “Now, if you please?”

“Right, of course.” Sycamore nodded, and he and Clemont boarded one Flying Taxi, while Leon and Ricki entered another. Leon sighed deeply as he sat next to Ricki, and the young woman looked at him worriedly.

“Sir?” She asked, cocking her head, and Leon gave her a withering grin.

“I can’t help but feel like something terrible is going to happen.” He said, and her eyes widened. “Professor Sycamore said that Leader Clemont doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of his typing intensifying, either.” 

“Huh.” Ricki frowned. “So why is it just…” she began counting on her fingers. “Leader Nessa, Leader Allister, Mr. Stone, his son, and… Leader Raihan?” 

“I don’t know about Raihan.” Leon shook his head. “But Sonia told me the Devon Corporation ordered a big batch of GWeez for export to Sinnoh. You don’t think…”

Ricki bit her lip. “I hope he’s okay.” She said weakly, and Leon leaned back in his seat with a sigh. 

“I feel like something’s _wrong,_ you know?” He said, and she nodded. “Like something’s been bothering Raihan, but he can’t tell me.” Leon looked out the window, and his expression tightened. “Not like _I _have the right to get upset about hiding things, not when I haven’t told him about Rose, either.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, sir, it seems things will begin calming down.” Ricki said, and Leon sighed deeply. “MC Mining is back, and it seems construction is continuing again in Derbyton and Spikemuth…”

“We’ve taken three steps back, Ricki.” Leon said, “And not a single step forward ever since. We’ll never repeal Dexit at this rate.”

“Professor Kukui did say it would take time.” His assistant said softly, and she squeezed Leon’s hand. “Have faith, boss. Things will work out.”

“Ricki…” Leon sighed, and pulled her into a one-armed hug. “Man, I don’t know how I’ve inspired so much support from you.”

“I’m a massive fan, sir.” The young woman giggled, and he laughed softly. “I’ll stick with you, through thick and thin. I _know _we can sort this out.”

“Thank you, Ricki.” Leon sighed. “That… that means a lot to me.”

* * *

“Yes, it will take some time for us to extract DNA, amplify it and sequence it.” Sonia said, as Hop sprang into action behind her, already working on the blood sample extracted from Clemont. Sycamore nodded at her in understanding, smiling kindly, and Sonia gave him a smile, as well. 

“It would take a few hours, I suppose.” The Professor hummed, and Sonia huffed proudly, thumping her chest. 

“We can do it in three!” She said, and Sycamore lit up at that. “It’s just the one gene, after all. We can do this!” She huffed, flexing her arm with a wink. Sycamore laughed fondly behind his hand, and he nodded.

“Well, I’ll put my son’s DNA in your capable hands.” He said, and Leon boggled at him. Ricki elbowed him lightly, and he reeled himself in, clearing his throat. Clemont seemed to have noticed his reaction, though, and the young man laughed softly into his fist. 

“He’s my stepfather.” Clemont said, and Leon blinked at him. “After our Legendary Lockdown, Professor Sycamore married my dad.”

“Oh!” Leon lit up. “I see. That… makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Clemont chuckled fondly. “To tell you the truth, Mr. Chairman, we could have simply sent over the samples, but Dad really wanted a holiday, so…”

“It’s totally understandable.” Leon laughed. “I’ve heard Pokémon Professors can get _very _busy, so I don’t blame Professor Sycamore for wanting to come here personally.”

“That, and he’s been looking for a holiday spot for his anniversary trip with my other dad.” Clemont looked apologetic, and Leon couldn’t help but smile. “Are you committed to anyone like that, Mr. Chairman?”

“Oh, not yet.” Leon shook his head, smiling knowingly. “But hopefully soon.”

“Good luck.” The blond smiled, and they both lit up when Sycamore approached them. “Dad.”

“Clemont.” Sycamore greeted pleasantly, and he turned to Leon. “Mr. Chairman, would it be alright if we were to steal away for a moment to Hammerlocke Castle?” 

“Oh?” Leon blinked, and Clemont rolled his eyes, huffing fondly. “What for? Is there anything you’d like to research there? I’d have to contact the keeper of the Hammerlocke Vault, but—”

“Well,” Much to Leon’s surprise, Sycamore turned red. “I… I simply wanted to see it.”

Leon couldn’t help the big grin that crossed his face.

“Well, Professor, it would be my honour to show you there!” 

“Oh, you aren’t too busy?” Sycamore blinked, and Ricki nodded, sitting up straighter with a proud little huff of her own. 

“Yessir! I’ve cleared out the boss’s day for your visit!” She said, “I’ll stay here and wait for Professor Sonia. You guys go out for a good day!”

“Thank you so much, Ricki.” Leon sighed, and she beamed at him. “We’ll be right back when you call for us.”

“Gotcha.” She gave them a mock salute. “I’ll try helping them out too!”

Leon turned to the two Kalosians, and he grinned at them. 

“Well then,” He gestured at the door. “Shall we?”

* * *

“Ya sure this weirdo’s gonna show us the goods?” 

“Be quiet, Meowth, he can hear you!”

“_Shh!_ Be quiet, you two!”

Five shadows crossed the hallways of Hammerlocke Castle’s nursery—two men, a woman, a Liepard, and a little Meowth that—in all honesty—should not be in Galar at all. 

Arsene could not help the smile that crossed his face at the thought of it. He _could _hear the three Team Rocket grunts hissing at each other behind him, but graciously pretended not to—he was, after all a _gentleman, _and it would be unspeakably _rude _to be pointing things out like that. 

He supposed it didn’t matter, in the end—these three grunts were _very _easy to convince, and the Meowth had a tendency to fall for every beautiful lady Pokémon he could see, so it was no difficult feat to convince them of a heist. 

Beside him, his Liepard flicked her tail in mild irritation. He scratched her between her ears, chuckling softly, and she seemed to calm down somewhat. 

“Ah, here we are.” He said, and the three Team Rocket grunts came to a stop behind him, jumping in alarm when he suddenly spoke. Arsene turned around to give them a smile, and gestured at the door he stopped at. “The Hammerlocke Nursery.”

“Really?” the blue-haired man—James, he’d said—asked, and Arsene nodded graciously, gesturing at the door. 

“Well, open it up, stat!” The Meowth huffed, and James rolled his eyes, huffing as he pulled out a set of lockpicks from his back pocket. He got to work on the door, and Arsene was content on standing back, watching as James seemed to struggle with the door. 

“What’s the holdup?” The redhead—Jessie—snapped, and James winced. 

“It’s… most unusual.” He said, and turned to look at Arsene. “This could be a trap.”

Meowth and Jessie looked at Arsene suspiciously, and the man chuckled, shaking his head as he gave them a bow, a hand to his heart. 

“No, there is a simpler explanation.” He said, and strode past James to stand at the door. The three grunts looked wary as James backed away from the door, and Arsene turned the knob, letting the door open easily. 

“The door is unlocked.”

“Oh.” Jessie said flatly, and she gave James an equally flat stare. The blue-haired man stammered, flustered, and Meowth shook his head.

“Oy, vey.” He sighed, and Arsene chuckled, gesturing for the open doorway. “So what’s in ‘ere, anyway?” 

“Forbidden Pokémon.” Arsene replied, and the three grunts’ eyes widened. “As you all know, there are Pokémon that are forbidden by Galarian law to enter this land. Hammerlocke Castle, old as it is, houses some Pokémon that are not only rare, but banned in this region.”

“Oh!” The three grunts lit up, and Jessie thrust her fist into the air.

“_Yes!_” She hissed, “_We’ll _interrupt the operation here, and finally, we’ll get that Matori for good! Imagine what the Boss will say, if we brought him _rare _Pokémon, instead of the weak little tourist Pokémon she’ll get, when her other team raids the quarantine facility tonight!” 

Matori. Arsene’s smile did not falter, but he mentally filed the name away. He’ll have to ask Robin about that name—she sounded important. 

“In we go, in we go!” Meowth cheered, and they hurried into the room. Arsene peered down the corridor, and nodded when the coast was clear. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and called his husband.

“They’re planning a hit on Hammerlocke Castle now, and the quarantine facility tonight.” He said, “I’ll send Leah over for recon.”

“_I’ll bring a team to Hammerlocke Castle._” Robin replied. “_Stay safe._”

“Always, my love.”

* * *

“And here, we have the nursery.” Villea said, and Sycamore lit up, hurrying forward to see the dragons that were nesting in their respective little areas in the Hammerlocke Nursery. “We currently have a few Pokémon eggs incubating with their mothers, though there are others in the Pokémon Centre, due to their delicate nature.”

“Ah, yes.” Sycamore nodded. “Goodra eggs tend to dry out easily.”

“Oh, they are right here, sir, in a special area of the water trough.” The old woman said, and Sycamore’s eyes seemed to _sparkle. _“Please, this way.”

Sycamore nodded excitedly, and he hurried onward ahead of Leon and Clemont, who were smiling fondly as the Pokémon Professor was utterly _charmed _by Hammerlocke’s dragon nursery. 

“This place is amazing, Mr. Leon.” Clemont said, and Leon grinned at him as they strode into the nursery at a more sedate pace. “What dragons are being kept here?”

“This particular enclosure has Flygon, Tyranitar, Goodra, and Haxorus.” He replied, “The nursery in the southern wing has Kommo-o, Hydreigon, Flapples and Appletuns, and just recently, a Dragapult. My own Haxorus has nested here recently, too.”

“Oh!” Clemont lit up, and Leon laughed softly when he saw a familiar little Larvitar hurrying up to him. “Hello there, little baby!”

“Hey.” Leon greeted, and picked it up, humming fondly as he stroked its back. “I guess most of the baby dragons have been given out to new trainers by now, but I think a few individuals from the brood stock are kept here.”

“I see.” Clemont hummed, gently tickling the Larvitar’s belly with his finger. “When is the time most of the babies are hatched?”

“Oh, it depends.” Leon shook his head. “Though usually, late spring.” He gave Clemont a kind smile. “Does your little sister like baby Pokémon?”

“She absolutely _adores _them.” Clemont chuckled, “That’s why I was asking. Since the trip might be a family vacation soon, I might as well plan it well by now.”

“That’s true.” Leon hummed, and he laughed fondly when the Larvitar began chewing on his hair, which was currently in a braid. “Oh, not again!” 

Clemont helped him untangle his hair from the baby’s hold, and Leon gently set it down, letting it scurry away to its mother, who was currently napping very comfortably on a large cushion. Much to Leon’s surprise, Sandie came slithering over, hissing softly, and Clemont cocked his head at it. 

“Oh, that’s something I haven’t seen before.” He said, as Leon squatted down to pet his head. 

“This is a Sandaconda. Ground-type.” Leon explained, “It’s Raihan’s—he’s nicknamed Sandie.”

“Oh, did Leader Raihan not bring everyone on his team?” Clemont asked, and Leon nodded, straightening up to see Patroclus heading over to them too, a happy little smile on his face as he carried with him a little Trapinch—Pumpkin, Leon realised, when he saw a little red ribbon around her neck. “Ah, a Turtonator!”

“This one is also Raihan’s.” Leon smiled, chuckling fondly when Patroclus suddenly stopped, looking fearful of Clemont. “He’s _very _shy, though.” He waved the Turtonator over, smiling kindly. “It’s okay, Patroclus, he’s a friend!”

“Yeah,” Clemont smiled, “I can hardly shove my brother off a chair, Patroclus.” 

“You have a brother, too?” Leon asked, and Patroclus finally approached them, gingerly holding Leon’s hand while he carried Pumpkin in another. 

“Yeah. His name’s Alain, he’s from the Professor’s side.” Clemont explained, and reached out for Patroclus. “May I carry the Trapinch?” He asked, and the Turtonator looked at Leon worriedly.

“It’s okay,” Leon nodded, and Patroclus nodded, handing the sleepy Pumpkin to Clemont. The blond grunted when the Trapinch’s weight suddenly made him stumble, and Leon’s eyes widened—

Only for Sandie to slither over, supporting Clemont’s weight as he nearly tripped. Pumpkin woke up slightly, and she gnashed her jaws in confusion, beginning to squirm in the young man’s arms. Sandie hissed softly, and Leon realised he must have said something to calm her, because she settled down, and cuddled against Clemont’s chest.

“Damn,” Clemont huffed, “I didn’t realise how heavy Trapinches were.” He struggled to straighten up, carrying Pumpkin like a baby. “Thank you very much, Sandie.”

Sandie hissed softly, snuggling next to Leon’s leg, and Patroclus cuddled against Leon’s side. 

“Aw, bud.” Leon sighed, petting Patroclus’s cheek gently. “I know. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“He misses Leader Raihan, huh.” Clemont sighed fondly. “How long has it been, five months?”

“Around five, yeah.” Leon nodded. “He said he’ll be gone for a year, so it won’t take long now.”

“Yeah.” Clemont nodded, smiling, but then a sudden explosion shook the nursery. The two men gaped at each other as the ground began to shake, and Leon looked around, his heart shooting to his throat as smoke began to fill the nursery. 

“Villea!” He called. “Professor Sycamore!”

“Dad!” Clemont called, and he gently tucked Pumpkin into his jacket as Leon stood in front of him protectively. Leon reached for his Pokéball harness—

And swiped at nothing. His eyes widened, and his heart filled with dread when he realised he’d left his harness at Wedgehurst. 

“Fuck,” he hissed, shaking his head, but Patroclus suddenly jumped out in front of him, growling protectively. “Patroclus.” He breathed, and Sandie slithered out in front of him too, hissing angrily. “Sandie.”

“Mr. Chairman, look!” Clemont called, and Leon whirled around to see Team Rocket grunts standing in front of Sycamore and Villea, leering at Leon and Clemont as their Pokémon—a Skuntank and an Orbeetle—stood around them, growling threateningly. Sycamore met Leon’s gaze, and he bit his lip, nodding knowingly as he stood in front of Villea protectively. 

“You let them go _right now._” Leon snarled, standing up straight behind Patroclus and Sandie. “Do _not _mess with me right now, I _mean it._”

“You don’t scare us at all, Mr. Chairman,” The grunt in front, a tall, muscular man, drawled. “What with how _easily _we seem to keep getting away from you, even with all that BS about you catching us.”

“_Do not try me._” Leon glowered at them, and the man whistled.

“Now _that’s _a good look on you!” He crowed, nodding as he sent out a Mandibuzz, who hissed at them threateningly as it spread its wings. Leon’s eyes widened when he saw a Rocket Controller under its wing, and he clicked his tongue.

“Shut up!” Clemont snapped, “Let go of Mrs. Villea and my dad _right now!_” He threw out a Pokéball from his pocket, and Leon was surprised to see a Heliolisk emerge, hissing at them angrily as it extended its frill threateningly. 

“Not a chance, chump!” Another grunt yelled, and threw out a Lanturn. It seemed to wince as it appeared, flinching from the weight and pain of the Rocket Controller on its belly, and Leon hissed, wincing in sympathy. 

“These people can’t be reasoned with.” Leon shook his head, looking at Clemont, who rolled his eyes.

“Oh, don’t I know it.” He mumbled, and Leon raised an eyebrow at that. “Crepes, use Dragon Tail on that Lanturn!”

“Patroclus, Sunny Day!” Leon ordered, “Sandie, use Earth Power on the Skuntank!” 

The Turtonator threw his head back to roar into the air, and the area became acrid as Sandie reared up, before slamming himself down on the ground. The earth beneath the Skuntank’s feet cracked open in a burst of light, as Clemont’s Heliolisk shot past the column of light to slam into the Lanturn, throwing it into the wall. 

“_Fuck!_” the Rocket Grunt that deployed the Lanturn cursed, as his companions shook their heads.

“Mandibuzz, use Dark Pulse on the Heliolisk!” The leader ordered.

“Orbeetle, use Psychic and hold them all in place!” 

“Patroclus, interrupt it with Fire Blast!” Leon barked, and the Turtonator shot forward, letting out a shot of fire towards the Orbeetle, which began to glow pink as it shot out of the way. 

“Hit him with Hydro Pump!” The Lanturn’s trainer called, and Leon grit his teeth.

“Patroclus, put it out with a Shell Trap!” He ordered, and Patroclus turned his back towards the blast of water, which met with the spikes on its back, making the area explode with steam. 

“Let’s go!” Clemont called, and Leon realised the blond had run into the battlefield, making a beeline for the Skuntank, a cheeky grin on his lips. “Crepes, hit me with Thunderbolt!” 

The Heliolisk lit up, and he leapt into the air, shooting down a blast of electricity as Clemont grabbed the Rocket Controller on the Pokémon’s body, and its trainer’s eyes widened.

“No way!”

Electricity shot through the blond’s body, and the Rocket Controller exploded. The Skuntank dropped to the ground with a relieved sigh, and Clemont looked up at his father, nodding. 

“Go!” He called, and Sycamore nodded, ushering Villea to come with him as they ran out from behind the Team Rocket grunts.

“Damn it!” The leader shook his head. “Mandibuzz, take the freak out!” 

“Absolutely not!” Leon snapped, “Patroclus, Dragon Pulse! Sandie, hit the Orbeetle with Fire Fang!” 

Patroclus let out a blast of draconic rage from his maw as the Sandaconda shot forward, surprisingly limber, at the Orbeetle. 

“Lanturn, use Surf!” 

Leon’s eyes widened as a wave of water came shooting towards Patroclus and Sandie, when suddenly a Flygon swept down, screeching angrily. The ground began to shake, and Leon fought to steady himself, only to be supported by Sandie as he shot back to Leon’s side. 

“S-Sandie,” Leon breathed, as the Sandaconda nodded at him knowingly. Clemont’s Heliolisk scrambled to get up on top of his trainer, and the blond shuddered, dropping to his knees with a shout of pain. “Clemont!” 

The blond managed to pull Pumpkin out of his jacket, but he dropped to the ground, his eyes sliding shut. Pumpkin clung onto his chest and began to cry as Crepes began to panic. 

“No!” Sycamore gasped, though he had his hands full, supporting Villea as he tried to keep her safe. Patroclus hurried to Clemont’s side, picking Clemont, Pumpkin, and Crepes up, and Leon was shocked to see that the blond was unconscious. Crepes looked _terrified, _skittering around on top of his trainer’s chest, whining sadly as Pumpkin continued to cry. Patroclus lowered his snout to gently nudge her head comfortingly, whining softly. 

“What?” He breathed, and he looked up to see that Cereus—Raihan’s father’s Flygon—had appeared, snarling angrily as his Earthquake finally subsided, the Flygon slamming down onto the ground with a powerful shudder of the earth. Sandie gently pushed at Leon, and the man stood back, eyes wide, as Sandie slithered to Cereus’s side, staring down the last Pokémon left standing—the Mandibuzz, who had survived the Earthquake. The Team Rocket grunts had all fallen down too, except for the Mandibuzz’s trainer, who was glowering at the two Pokémon across him.

“What the _hell _is the meaning of this?” He snapped, “Mandibuzz, end those damn Pokémon, _now!_”

The Mandibuzz reared up, and Leon realised it was going to use Frustration. His expression tightened, but he shook his head, thrusting his fist out at Sandie. 

“Sandie, Fire Fang!” He ordered, and looked up at Cereus. “Hope this works… Cereus, Dragon Claw!” 

The Flygon shot forward, slamming into the Mandibuzz, and he brought it down onto the ground with a mighty screech. The two Pokémon struggled together in a mess of wings, scales, and feathers as Cereus pinned the bird Pokémon down. Sandie slithered up to them with frightening speed, and slammed fangs of flames down onto the Rocket Controller, causing it to spark and fizzle furiously as it melted down. 

Leon panted heavily, nodding in approval, when the Mandibuzz’s trainer growled, roaring in anger as he charged at Leon. Leon’s eyes sharpened into a focused point, and he held his ground, preparing himself for the man’s approach. He sidestepped the grunt as he charged forward, and drove his fist into the man’s solar plexus, _hard_. 

The Team Rocket grunt’s eyes widened in shock as the wind was knocked out of his lungs, and Leon glowered down at him.

“I told you not to try me.” He murmured, and let the man drop to the ground. He heard police sirens from outside the nursery, and Leon heaved a sigh of relief as Cereus finally let the Mandibuzz go, still growling angrily as Sandie slithered back to Leon, snuggling against his leg.

“Thank you, Sandie.” Leon murmured, and turned to look at Patroclus, who brought the unconscious Clemont to his father, looking apologetic as he lowered the blond to let Sycamore see him. “Clemont.” Leon breathed, and he hurried over to see the young man had simply fainted.

“Oh, thank Arceus.” Leon said faintly, taking Pumpkin from him gently as Sycamore collapsed against Patroclus’s side with a relieved sigh. 

“Thank you, Turtonator.” Sycamore said tiredly, and he looked at Leon. “And thank you, too, Mr. Chairman.”

Leon gave him a withering little grin, and they turned to see Warwick Yard officers come charging in. 

“Freeze!” The frontmost officer barked, but then he stopped when he saw the Team Rocket grunts on the ground. He turned to see Leon, and he blinked. “Oh.”

“Hi, you’re a bit late.” Leon gave him a strained little grin. “Please tell me you have a medic on you, though. We’ve got a bit of an emergency.” He gestured at Clemont, and the officer jumped, giving him a salute. 

“Yes, sir!” He turned to his team, “Someone call the medic!”

The police officers mobilised quickly, and Leon sighed deeply, rocking Pumpkin in his arms to calm her down. He watched as Clemont was set down on an emergency stretcher, a worried Sycamore by his side as medics carefully secured the blond to the stretcher. When they were done, Clemont was carried out of the nursery, Sycamore at their heels. Crepes trailed after them worriedly, and Leon smiled when Sycamore turned to pick the Heliolisk up into his arms before hurrying out after the medical team. Leon turned around to look for Villea, and he sighed in relief when he saw the old woman gently petting Cereus, who had finally calmed down.

“That was the first time I saw Cereus so angry.” Leon said, and Villea chuckled fondly, stroking Cereus’s neck. 

“There was a threat to his nest, after all.” She said, and Leon smiled, scratching the old Flygon under his chin. “The eggs and the mothers are all safe. They all know to retreat to their pens when there’s danger, and Cereus took care of the other eggs first before he came to attack.”

“Oh, thank Arceus.” Leon sighed. “Well, then—”

“Prepare for trouble!” A familiar voice called, and Leon’s eyes boggled in frustration as he whirled around to see three silhouettes at the window where the Flygon could fly in and out of the nursery. “You poor Pokémon in your beds!”

“And make it double, we’re taking all your eggs!” 

Leon gaped as Jessie, James, and Meowth appeared, smirking down at Leon. 

“You three!” He huffed exasperatedly, “_Please, _I can _not _deal with you right now.”

“Wh—” Jessie stuttered, and the three fell out of position as she ruffled her hair. “Wait a minute—they hit _already?_”

“_Yes,_” Leon answered pointedly, rubbing his temples, and gestured at the police officers with him, previously busy with subduing the Team Rocket grunts, and were all now looking at the new trio. “And I have a friend being rushed to the hospital. You could _not _have picked a worse time.”

“That’s—that’s messed up, King Champ!” Meowth spluttered, and Leon gave him a wry look.

“Yeah? Tell that to your co-workers here!” He huffed, and gestured at the mess the nursery was in. “Thanks, but you’re _quite _late to the party!”

“Mr. Chairman, Cereus knows Hyper Beam.” Villea said quietly, and Leon sighed. 

“Maybe next time.” He told the grunts, and turned to Cereus. “Cereus, use Hyper Beam.”

“Wh—” The Team Rocket trio’s eyes widened, and the Flygon shot towards them to let loose a powerful blast of light that slammed into them, sending them flying. 

Arsene clung to the wall outside the window, looking at the trio wide-eyed as they went shooting into the sky, and he squinted into the distance as they cried, “_Team Rocket’s blasting off again!_”

Next to him, his Liepard blinked in just as much surprise and confusion, and Arsene laughed softly, shaking his head.

“Well, that takes care of _that…_” He murmured, and he jumped when he heard a distant explosion. Arsene shared a look of alarm with his Liepard, and they hurried up the roof of the nursery to find the source of the explosion. His eyes widened when he saw a column of smoke escaping a distant building within the walls of Hammerlocke Castle Town. 

“_Sacrebleu._” He breathed, as his phone rang. He answered it, taking a shuddering breath. “Robin. What—”

“_We made a mistake,_” Robin sounded winded, and his breaths were ragged, as if he had been running. “_Fuck, Arsene, we made a mistake._”

“What do you—what do you _mean?_”

“_The Hammerlocke Castle hit was a distraction._” Robin said, “_Those three grunts have a history of being fed misinformation by this Matori you told me about. The real hit was on the Hammerlocke Quarantine Facility—they hit it _now, _not tonight._”

Arsene’s eyes widened as he took a shaky breath. “Oh, Arceus. _Leah was in there._”

“_We’ve got lots of injuries, I don’t know about casualties._” Robin said, “_I haven’t heard from Leah, either. I can’t even begin to count how many Pokémon were stolen._” Robin’s voice shook with rage and frustration. “_This is big._”

“Oh, Mr. Chairman…” Arsene sighed, looking down to see the younger man handing his Trapinch to the caretaker, before putting the Sandaconda and the Turtonator into their Pokéballs and putting them into his coat’s inner pocket. Arsene’s heart sank as he watched Leon hurry out of the nursery, and he shook his head. “Oh, I am so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember when arsene said "all the staff [in cafe violette] are rescues"? he means _all_ of the staff. let it be said that he's a phantom thief with an extensive network of help. 
> 
> <strike>i still can't believe we made leah pokemoncafemix a phantom thief too, that's badass</strike>
> 
> just a heads up, there's... something to be said about how pumpkin's always asleep, isn't there?


	64. Viva La Vida

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I used to rule the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRIGGER WARNING**: there will be mention of attempted suicide. A character will actually explicitly warn for it prior to talking about it. There is also mention of torture and human experimentation. 
> 
> BRO you won't BELIEVE how long i have wanted to upload this LMAO 
> 
> :3c hope you've been paying attention to weird little details, because you're about to get rewarded LMAOOOOO

When Raihan woke up, he realised he was lying down on top of cold, hard flooring that seemed to rumble quietly. He opened his eyes to see he was staring at a wall, and he made a move to turn around. He winced, feeling his joints protest, and was quietly grateful that he wasn’t a dragon right now—he would have probably frozen to death, considering the brisk temperature he was currently feeling. He groaned softly, trying to turn over, when he heard a man’s voice.

“Stay quiet.” He said, and Raihan noticed he had a Kalosian accent. “Do not move. They are coming.”

Raihan couldn’t help but hold his breath, but for now, decided to do as he was told. He shut his eyes, and hoped that no one but the man had noticed he had woken up, forcing himself to stay as still as possible when he heard the sound of sliding doors hissing open. 

“He’s in here, Ma’am.” Another voice reported, and Raihan held his breath as he heard the sound of high heels clicking across metal flooring. Well, now he knew at least that—the entire floor was metal, it seemed, because he could feel the vibrations of her footsteps. They came to a stop at a considerable distance from him, and Raihan could take comfort in the fact that probably miniscule movements may go unnoticed. He didn’t even know if he was breathing evenly. “The Sinnoh team brought him in a few hours ago.”

“So _this _is the dragon-type Congressman Manny was boasting about.” A woman said flatly. “He doesn’t seem very impressive.”

“You have put him in a very cold room, Matori.” The man with the Kalosian accent said, and Raihan frowned to himself. Was he trying to tell Raihan who the woman was? He didn’t know a Matori, but if he and that man managed to get out of there, then he could look her up. “Dragons do not take well to the cold.”

“Hm.” Matori hummed, “You have a point, Steel-01.” 

“Your feeble attempts at dehumanising me are pathetic.” The Kalosian man said, and Matori scoffed. “It has not worked for the decade I have been here, do not expect it to work now.”

“_Silence._” Matori snapped, “Or I take away your Pyroar again.”

“You are disallowed from keeping him away from me permanently, mademoiselle.” The man replied, “Though it would do you well to lend him to this poor young man, lest you lose another precious blood bag, like last time.”

“Hardy steel-type bastard.” Matori mumbled viciously, and Raihan’s heart jumped. 

Steel-type. His Kalosian companion was someone like he was—a secondary typed person.

_What did he mean, blood bag?_

“Fine. Have someone turn up the thermostat in here.” She snarled, and Raihan heard her voice grow farther away from him. She must have turned around, he thought. “And for fuck’s sake, get the chloroform dosing right—we’re taking out _people,_ not Pokémon. If this dragon isn’t getting up in the next few hours, it’s on _your _heads.”

“M-Ma’am.” Her subordinates replied, and they heard footsteps heading out of the room. Raihan stayed quiet for longer, unsure if he should move, but eventually, his companion spoke again. 

“They have left.” He said, and Raihan rolled over to finally get a look at where he was, and at the man that had likely saved his life. Much to his shock, he realised they were in some kind of hangar—it was a large room meant for large Pokémon such as Tyranitar, but right now, there were only two types of cages—a classic metal-bar cage for Raihan, and a plasma-walled cage for his companion. The other man was older than Raihan, that was for sure, though Raihan couldn’t quite tell exactly how much older. He had long, flaming red hair that seemed muted in colour, like drying blood, and it hung around him like a heavy veil that seemingly weighed his head down with the weight of the world. There was silver at the man’s temples, and lines across his brow, in the corners of his lips and eyes. Dark shadows under his blazing blue eyes accented the sheer _exhaustion _he seemed to carry with him like a shroud. He was dressed in a nondescript shirt, loose and hanging off one bony shoulder, and linen trousers that were slightly torn at the hem. Much like Raihan, he was sitting on the floor, and Raihan could see a cuff-like device wrapped around his ankle.

Raihan sat up, gaping at the man, and his heart sank in sympathy. 

“Hello, stranger.” The man said, “Unfortunate that we meet in such circumstances.”

“I…” Raihan shook his head. “I’m Raihan. Who are you?”

The man scoffed softly, and looked down at his hands. 

“I used to rule the world.” He said in Kalosian, and Raihan blinked at him in surprise. “I am but a stranger, Raihan.” He said in the lingua franca of the world, and Raihan shook his head. 

“I speak Kalosian too.” Raihan replied in Kalosian, and the man smiled slightly at that. “My—my mother… she’s Kalosian.”

“I see.” The man said simply, and continued in Kalosian as he looked at Raihan. “I have no home to return to beyond these walls, but I believe I assume correctly that you do.”

“Yes.” Raihan nodded, and the redhead hummed, making a move to get up. “Wait—who are they? What’s going on? Who’s Matori?”

The man gave him a level look, and sighed, sitting back down again. 

“You are currently on a plane bound for Johto.” He said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “We are still in Sinnohan airspace, but I cannot guarantee where exactly in Sinnoh we are.” 

“Fuck, we gotta get out of here.” Raihan said, getting up onto his feet to grab the bars. “Let me just—”

He stopped himself, when he remembered that no, he was no longer Dragon-type. No, he didn’t have his draconic strength from back then. 

Like this, Raihan realised he was _trapped_. 

“Is something wrong?” His companion asked, and Raihan shook his head, dropping back down onto the ground with a frustrated huff. 

“I… I’m not actually… uh… dragon-type.” He admitted lamely, and the man—King, Raihan decided to call him, at least in his head—raised an eyebrow at him. “They… must’ve made a mistake.”

“I see.” King hummed. “Are you a Pokémon trainer?”

Raihan jumped, and he felt around his waist for his Pokéball harness. His heart sank when he realised it was _gone. _

“Oh, fuck.” He gasped. “My team’s gone.”

“No doubt they had taken your harness when they took you.” King said. “There is a facility for… taming stolen Pokémon on board. Your team will likely be there.”

“Damn it,” Raihan hissed, slamming his arms against the bars. “We gotta get out of here.” He looked at King, and bit his lip. “Matori said you had a Pyroar. Any chance it could help us out?”

“Provided she brought him here, then yes. He is loyal to me.” King replied. “We will have to come up with a strategy in order to set you free.”

“You’re coming with me, old man.” Raihan growled, and King blinked at him blankly. “I’m not about to leave you here, either. There’s got to be _something _left for you out there.”

“Perhaps.” King replied, and looked off to the side. “Something you must know, Raihan, is that the organisation that took you is called Team Rocket.” 

Raihan stopped, and he gaped at him. 

“Team Rocket?” He breathed. 

“Yes. They have ties in the Sinnohan government, as certain politicians, among other influential individuals, would pay generously to have a bag of your blood.” King paused, and gave Raihan a withering little smile. “That is, provided you are a true chosen one.”

“Why… why my blood?” Raihan asked. 

“After a decade of research, Team Rocket has found a temporary means of inducing secondary typing in Normal-typed individuals by transfusing secondary-typed blood into them.” King said, and Raihan’s eyes widened as he shook his head.

“No, that can’t be right—Professor Sonia of Galar broke that story first.” He said, “There would have been no way Team Rocket knew about this for that long.”

“The truth of secondary typing was very recent,” King said, neither confirming nor denying Raihan’s words. “They, of course, finally picked up the correct terminology upon Professor Sonia’s discovery, but prior to that, Team Rocket was already aware of such a fantastic power.”

He looked down at his hand. “[It all began… with a very special young man from Kanto](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062800). And then, others.”

“A young man from Kanto.” Raihan frowned in thought. “Who?”

“The Legendary Champion of Kanto, Red.” King replied, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “Though it eventually came to be known that Red, in fact, was not blessed with the love of Arceus in his veins. So they looked for others. For years and years, many lives were lost in the cells we sit in.”

“Oh, fuck…” Raihan breathed. 

“Team Rocket made many mistakes. People loved by the Legendaries, people cursed by them, none of them could fulfil the legend of the children of Arceus, as told by an ancient race of dragon-like people in Hoenn.” King sighed. “Until they finally succeeded.”

Raihan’s heart sank. “They found you.”

King huffed, and leaned against the back wall of his cage.

“How’d they know?” Raihan asked gently, and King shut his eyes, lacing his fingers together on his lap as he took a deep breath.

“A word of warning, Raihan.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. “I will tell you something that may hurt you. I would like to ensure that I will not.”

“I’m good.” Raihan shook his head. “Don’t have triggers.”

“Very well.” King said. “I tried to kill myself.”

Raihan felt his blood go cold, and King met his gaze. 

“At the end of the world, a decade ago, I tried to kill myself.” He said, “Team Rocket found my body unbroken under the ruins of my empire, and took me into their labyrinth of cruelty underground, where I remain, until now.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry.” Raihan said shakily. “I…” He shook his head. “This entire time, you’ve lived like this?”

“Yes.” King replied. “The conditions I have been kept in are by far substandard, and yet my mind remains intact.” 

“How’d you manage that?” Raihan asked, rubbing his arm. “Is that… your steel typing?”

“Oh, no.” King shook his head. “My steel typing manifests physically, unlike the chosen ones blessed with darkness.” Raihan’s mind was reeling—there were _Dark-type _people, too? “Immunity to poisons, to allergens, illnesses, and resistance to injury.” King counted his traits off with his fingers, and Raihan stared at him in awe. “I age very slowly, as well. You can see why my blood is very much coveted.”

“Yeah.” Raihan said weakly. “Are you telling me there are _other _people you know that have secondary typing?”

“A few.” King nodded. “I have seen them sit in that cage you sit in, and I have seen them die in the cage you sit in.”

“_Fuck._” Raihan hissed, feeling a cold chill go down his spine. “None of them escaped?”

“Some have.” King replied, “Which is what I aim for you if we are given the opportunity. I cannot let Team Rocket continue to enrich their hideous selves with beauty that is not rightfully theirs.” 

Raihan deflated, and he looked down at the ground. “Okay. But I’m coming back for you, King.” 

“King?” the man echoed, cocking his head. 

“You won’t give me your name, so I gave you one.” Raihan replied. “I guess it must be because you wanted to throw your old self away.” He sighed, and rubbed his arm. “Maybe… with this, you could start over. _I_ want you to start over.”

“You are very kind, Raihan.” King chuckled softly. “But I am not a man worthy of redemption.”

“Don’t say that.” Raihan frowned, and King shook his head. 

“Raihan, do not answer me if I speak the truth.” He said, “You have lost your secondary typing.”

Raihan blinked at him, and while he felt Arceus’s chains tighten around his throat, his silence spoke more words than he ever could, and Raihan wondered if King knew about his arrangement with Arceus. He wondered if there was someone—or some_thing _else interfering with them, and he didn’t want to think any harder on it—it was too complicated for him to be thinking about that right now.

“I see.” King shut his eyes, nodding slowly. “Do you detest your secondary typing?”

“Am I still talking to King, or is this someone else now?” Raihan asked flatly, and King laughed softly. 

“Ah, you are as used to the machinations of the Legendaries as I am.” He said, and Raihan swallowed nervously, nodding. “Yes, this is still King. I know the eyes of a man toyed with by the gods, Raihan—something has touched you, and it seems it is disallowing you to divulge information. For how long?”

“A month. I’ve got about a week or so to go.” Raihan replied, and King nodded. 

“Ah, this one is a particularly proud one.” He said, and Raihan grinned wryly, nodding. 

“Real _damn _proud, this one.” He grumbled, and Arceus’s chains squeezed his neck—but it felt more like a ticklish sort of squeeze, something playful and bemused. Raihan felt his blood boil in frustration, and he shook his head. “And as for my typing, of course I hate it. Why would I _not, _it landed me here. It landed _you _here.”

“A valid point.” King hummed. “Yet mine remains beloved, to me.”

Raihan blinked at him, wide-eyed, as King gave him a little smile.

“It may have brought me grief, Raihan, but this steel blood is all I have left of me.” He pressed a bony hand to his heart, and sighed. “My former self was once a man worthy of the world. Of love.” 

Raihan’s expression fell. 

“A long time ago, my steel blood brought me to great heights. I… was a chosen one. Blessed by Arceus itself to make the world beautiful. But my empire was built on sand, and I lost everything.” He looked at his hand, and Raihan realised there was a fine line of bleached skin at the base of his middle finger. Raihan didn’t know why he suddenly thought of Wallace, of a Key Stone mounted on a ring, and the powerful roar of a Gyarados, but he felt his eyes well with tears. “I had lost everything, except the love that Arceus gave me.”

King met Raihan’s gaze, and he smiled bitterly. “Despite everything, I am still me, because of this typing.” He shut his eyes, and a tear rolled down his face. “Justice is being delivered unto me, because of this typing.”

“Your life is a living hell because of your typing.” Raihan said, and King shook his head.

“What hell is to you is justice to others.” King said, “A man who rules his castle knows not of how others rule theirs.” 

Raihan shrunk back from King, feeling shame boil in his gut as he thought of Aphis. 

“There are others who love our typing more than propriety dictates.” King continued, “We are not gods, Raihan, we do not have the right to speak for them, nor for others.” He laughed dryly. “A beautiful world to one is hell on earth to another.”

“Righteous justice to you and your typing… is torture to me.” Raihan murmured. “What I hate… is love, in other people.”

“Yes.” King nodded. “Ten years of torture, of failure, and pain taught me to change. The memories of my past, the bittersweetness of release—and the eyes of a little Champion, much like yourself, haunted my mind in my waking hours, until my heart could not bear to remain the way I had been.” He said, and Raihan blinked at him. 

“King…”

“Ten years… and no one came to save me. No one, but this typing that kept me alive. This typing that reminded me of the hope that mattered.” King shook his head. “You remind me of that little Champion. She had your eyes, back then. Resolute, filled with tears, as I gave her the last of my legacy.” 

“What was it?” Raihan asked, and King looked back down at his finger.

“The key to my kingdom, and the crown to my empire.” He said, and Raihan frowned in confusion. King laughed, shaking his head. “Ah, listen not to the ramblings of a man going mad with grief from mistakes in the past.” King gestured at the door. “They will return soon. They can hear us talking, though they cannot understand us. That is the time you act.” 

Raihan bit his lip, and nodded. 

“The both of us are getting out of here, King.” He said, and the redhead gave him a tired smile. “And you’ll apologise to that little Champion, and make her give your kingdom back to you.”

King blinked at him, and Raihan gave him a smile. “And _then _you’ll have justice served. I don’t know what you’ve done, King, but whatever it was, you pay for it with the people you hurt _aware _of you paying for it.” He sat up straighter, huffing. “Let her know how you’ve suffered for so long, and rebuild your castle. Start over again.”

“Why?” King asked. 

“Because…” Raihan took a shaky breath. “I suppose… Arceus loved you enough to ensure that you lived through justice.” 

King looked at him for a long moment, and finally smiled. 

“Thank you for your kindness, Raihan.” He said, and looked to the door. “I will fight life and limb to save your life.” 

“And I’m not joking, when I said I’ll come back for you.” Raihan said, “I mean it. I’ll give you back to your little Champion myself, if I have to.”

King laughed at that, and nodded. 

“Do not expect for me to hold my breath, Raihan, but again, thank you.”

The doors hissed, and the two men tensed up. 

Here we go, Raihan thought, as footsteps echoed in their hangar. He held his breath, bracing himself—when suddenly, the airship shook with a terrible explosion.

* * *

“Go, go, go!” Darude shouted, urging all the Pokémon in the cages to hurry out. “Flying-types! Take passengers! Those who can Levitate, who can take a bit of a fall, take passengers, too!”

Across him, Gooms was doing the same, carrying with her a little Noibat that had been crying for its mother when the chaos began. Darude met her gaze, and he nodded at her encouragingly. “Keep at it, Gooms!”

“You too, Darude!” She called back, as another set of explosions shook their aircraft. The Noibat in her arms began to cry anew, and Gooms hushed it gently as she continued to usher Pokémon out of their cages. “Stay strong! We can overwhelm the humans! Just go!”

* * *

“Argh, this smoke will cling to my feathers like this!” Janus hissed, swiping at a Team Rocket grunt with his talons, earning him a scream as his claws dug into the grunt’s skin. 

“Poor you.” Gladiolus said flatly from his other side, and fired another Flash Cannon at the wall, causing another explosion. 

“Gladiolus!” Janus screeched, and the Duraludon laughed softly to himself as he threw back another set of grunts that headed towards them. 

“I’m sure Raihan will give you a nice, long bath when we meet him again.” Gladiolus said placatingly, though he was smiling slightly to himself as he fired a Stone Edge at a closing shutter. The shutter jammed, and the Pokémon that were almost trapped behind the shutter continued to hurry through. 

“I _will _make sure he does.” Janus replied, and scratched at another grunt. “How has Gibble not made contact with Lady Cynthia yet?” 

“I’m sure she’s on her way.” Gladiolus said, though he was beginning to sound tired. Janus could feel the strain in his voice, too, and he shook his head, firing an Ice Beam behind Gladiolus to block off the entry of Team Rocket grunts into the hangar they had occupied. “She was the only one quick enough to get out of the harness—she’ll figure it out.”

Janus frowned, but then lit up when he saw a Pyroar, Honchkrow, and Mienshao ushering other Pokémon, too. The Pyroar looked at them, and he nodded to himself, hurrying over to them. 

“You!” He hissed, “Your trainer is still onboard!” 

“We know,” Gladiolus said, “But we have faith in him.” 

“Indeed,” Janus agreed, “He is a dragonborn; with his gift from Arceus, he will surely—”

“Your trainer is trapped in a cold storage room.” The Pyroar interrupted, and the two dragons jerked in shock. “My trainer will try to save him, but he can’t do it without one of us on his team.” The Pyroar gestured at his companions, who were quickly taking up the rear of the escaping Pokémon into their hangar, blocking off the entry of more grunts. “Then there’s the human bitch, as well, with the dirty tricks and terrible haircut.” 

“I… I beg your pardon?” Gladiolus blinked, but Janus nodded. 

“Gladiolus, I ask you to go with them.” He said, and Gladiolus sobered up, nodding in agreement. “Pyroar—”

“My name is Pluton.” The Pyroar said, and Gladiolus nodded at him. “You?”

“Gladiolus.” The Duraludon replied, “Let’s not waste time—Raihan will die in the cold.”

“Indeed.” Pluton gave him a once-over that was close to _scrutiny, _and huffed. “The Altaria asks _you _to keep up with me?”

“There is very little I would not achieve for Raihan.” Gladiolus said, and strode past Pluton. “Show me the way, Pluton, and we will save your trainer as well.”

“If he lets you.” Pluton said, and Gladiolus blinked at him. “You are not the first to offer your help.” He turned around, flicking his tail for Gladiolus to follow him. “This way.”

Gladiolus frowned, but nodded, hurrying after him.

* * *

“_Damage sustained to hull hangar 2. Decreasing altitude. Prepare for emergency landing._” 

The two Team Rocket grunts looked up at the ceiling, and the taller one of the two shook his head. “Fuck, we gotta get these two outta here.” He said, and his partner nodded, hurrying to King’s cage while he worked on Raihan’s door. 

Raihan looked at King, and the redhead nodded, as if in response to the grunt holding up a pair of electric handcuffs. 

“Alright, you’re coming with us, kid.” The other grunt said, and Raihan quickly charged forward, fangs bared. He sank his teeth into the man’s arm, earning him a scream of shock as he yanked as hard as he could, wincing when he tasted blood filling his mouth. “_Holy fuck!_”

“Bro?” The grunt gasped, and King grabbed her wrists, quickly whipping her around with shocking speed, locking her hands in the plasma cuffs instead. She screamed—but King pinched her nape, cutting her scream off as she fell unconscious. 

Raihan shoved his grunt to the side, making a break for the door, and he quickly shut it behind him, grateful the key was in the lock as he turned it, locking the grunt in the cell. 

“Get the hell back in here, you _freak!_” The man snarled, as Raihan scowled, spitting blood out of his mouth as King gave him a withering grin. 

“You get used to it.” He said, and Raihan shook his head.

“I already am.” He replied, wiping the back of his mouth with his sleeve before turning to King. “Do you know where I can find my team?”

“Follow me, please.” King said, and together, he and Raihan hurried out the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _HYSTERICAL, PAINED LAUGHTER_
> 
> _  
**THE KALOS BRAINROT CONTINUES.**  
_


	65. The Hope That Mattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You asked me how I managed to stay sane, Raihan.” He said, as Raihan struggled in his grip. “It is love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^ q ^ go off king!!!!!!!!!!!!! lots of you seem to have caught on to his secret, but it looks like raihan's gonna be in the dark for a while, huh? we'll have to wait and see for how long :3c

It had been less than six hours since Raihan went missing, and to Cynthia, it felt like the longest six hours of her life. Even back then, when Cyrus brought the wrath of the Creation Pokémon down on Sinnoh, she at least could _breathe._ She at least knew where to go, what to do, how to stop him.

Now, she had neither hair nor hide of Raihan, the dragon she swore to protect.

Last night had been harrowing—when Raihan didn’t show up to dinner, Cynthia immediately knew something was wrong. She left Rowan with Aphis and her parents, and hurried back to the Eterna Contest Hall, where she saw little baby Gibble, sobbing her eyes out as she hurried out of the Contest Hall, which was now closed, and completely dark. No one was in there, Cynthia knew, and the crying shiny Gible in the road meant only one thing. 

Something had gone wrong. 

Raihan had gone missing—at least, that was as much as Gibble could manage to tell her with nods and sad whines. Cynthia immediately rounded up all the help she could get, and now, on the back of her Altaria, the expanse of the early dawn sky above her, Cynthia had yet to get a wink of sleep. She was running on RedTauros, adrenaline, and anxiety, and she just _knew _the moment this was over, she was going to collapse and not wake up for a day or two, maybe even three.

“_Cynthia, I sense him._” 

Cynthia jerked to attention, her eyes widening as beneath her, Juno cawed in surprise. She petted her Altaria, and she pressed a button on her earpiece. 

“Talk to me, Riley.”

“_He is due northwest. Anubis senses that he is in grave danger._”

“You don’t say.” Cynthia muttered, and on her lap, in front of her, Gibble jerked awake, babbling in worry as she reached out towards the sky ahead of them. “Ah, Gibble, please—”

“Please, child,” Juno said witheringly, “I cannot drop you—you cannot fly yet.”

“No! Daddy’s in big trouble! Please! We gotta go, we gotta go!”

“My dear, I am carrying my trainer _and _you, I will not risk any injury during this flight.” The Altaria said sternly.

“No! If we don’t hurry, he’ll _die!_”

Juno turned to look at the baby dragon on her back, but a sudden explosion out of nowhere made all of them jump. Cynthia screamed as Juno suddenly panicked, losing her concentration, and they plummeted towards the ground. Gibble squirmed in Cynthia’s hold, and knocked Bellona’s Pokéball out of her clutch. The Garchomp shot out of her Pokéball, shooting down to catch her trainer before she fell, and Juno managed to right herself, catching Gibble in her fluff before the baby dragon could fall farther. 

“Oh, thank you!” Cynthia gasped, clinging to Bellona as she righted herself, sighing in relief. “What the _hell _was that?” She shook her head, adjusting her aviator goggles as she looked up. “We heard that explosion, right?”

“_Me too._” Flint’s voice said in her ear. “_No idea where it came from._”

“Might be an invisible plane.” Cynthia frowned. “Which means… this is some Team Rocket BS, I can feel it.”

“_Damn._” Flint sighed. “_You’d think they got the message back in Sunnyshore…_”

“_Whole new brand of idiots._” Riley hummed, and Cynthia couldn’t help but grin at Riley’s comment, while Flint burst out laughing. “_Keep heading northwest. You’ll find him._”

Another explosion made Cynthia jump, and this time, she could finally see where it came from. A large airship finally came shimmering into view, and her eyes widened when she saw flying Pokémon, each carrying a non-flying passenger each, escaping from a large hole in the side. 

“Raihan?” She breathed, and patted Bellona’s neck. “We have to Mega Evolve, Bellona, so we can get there in time.”

Bellona chuffed in agreement, and Cynthia nodded, pulling up her sleeve to reveal her Key Stone—mounted on a beautifully delicate golden bracelet, the slim golden bands woven together in infinity-loops. 

“Bellona,” She said, “Mega Evolve!” Cynthia touched her Key Stone, and she squeezed her eyes shut as Bellona Mega Evolved under her. When the light died down, she held on tight to Bellona’s dorsal fin, and turned to Juno, who nodded determinedly. “Let’s go, Juno!” She barked, and Bellona shot onward towards the falling airship.

“Hold on tight, little one!” Juno called, and Gibble nodded, clinging to her fluff as she charged after Bellona.

* * *

King took Raihan to a research facility-like room, and Raihan’s blood went cold for a moment—shit, had King fooled him?—when King pried a cabinet open, showing Raihan his bag, and his Rotom Phone on top of it. Raihan lit up, and he quickly shrugged his things back on as King looked out for them at the door. 

“Hurry.” King said urgently. “It seems the commotion is in the cargo hangar. No doubt your team caused that.”

“Yeah,” Raihan nodded, and together, he and King hurried out of the lab. “I’m almost sure that it was my Flygon that did that, the little shit.” He grinned a little, and King gave him a little smile. 

“You know them very well.” He said, and suddenly slammed Raihan against the wall. The two men panted, looking at each other wide eyed, and Raihan realised they’d hidden from a group of grunts that ran past the corridor they were in. 

“Yeah.” Raihan said, when King let up, and he coughed softly, rubbing his chest. “Also, fuck. You hit like a baseball bat.”

“I _am _steel-type.” King grinned slightly, and Raihan grinned back at him. “Despite everything about us, Raihan, I sincerely wish you get your secondary typing back.”

Raihan blinked at him, but the man grabbed his wrist, and pulled him along. 

“It is a part of you. It is what makes you unique.” He said, “When it will not work for you,” King slammed his arm against a control panel, smashing it, and Raihan’s eyes widened as the door opened. “Then you seize it by the throat, and remind the dragon of its place.”

“I…” Raihan blinked at him. 

“You are resilient, Raihan. You will find ways, as I have. As our ancestors before us have.” He gave him a little grin, and they finally burst into a wide corridor, a familiar silver steel Pokémon standing across him. “Wear your dragon scales with pride, and someday, it will love you back.”

A Pyroar’s roar caught their attention, and King and Raihan turned to see a Duraludon and Pyroar heading towards them. Raihan lit up, his eyes welling with tears as he met Gladiolus halfway, hugging him tightly with a relieved sigh. 

“Gladiolus!” He gasped, and his Duraludon hugged him back, squeezing him gently as King gently stroked his Pyroar’s mane. Raihan pulled away from his partner, and nodded at King. “We should go.”

“I think not.” Matori’s voice caught their attention, and King and his Pyroar shot forward to stand between Raihan and Matori protectively. Raihan shook his head, but another grunt—a tall, large one-eyed man in an eyepatch—stepped up on the other side of the corridor, blocking off their way into the hangar where Raihan could hear the chaos of escaping Pokémon ensuing. “Steel-01. You have _truly _been a pain in the neck.”

“Yet you cannot kill me, nor sedate me.” King said evenly. “Every pathetic attempt of Giovanni’s to subdue me will not bow my might.”

“Then _please _tell me why you haven’t set yourself free yet.” Matori leered at him. “You’re weak, your body is falling apart, and soon, we’ll find a replacement for you.”

“Oh, _that _again.” King drawled. “How long have you been in Team Rocket, little girl?” He asked, and Matori’s expression tightened, darkening with fury. “You know _nothing_ of what I have been through. Your underhanded tactics are a _bore,_ at best, and _laughable,_ at worst.”

“Go_ off, _King.” Raihan grinned, facing his back to King’s as he and Gladiolus faced off the newcomer. “You gonna stand there like a brick wall or are you gonna blink?”

“Impudent bastard.” The man growled, and released an Aggron. “It’s time to put you two unruly little blood bags back in your cages. Come quietly, Dragon-01, and we’ll spare your team the Rocket Controller treatment.”

“It is bullshit,” King said in Kalosian, “Accept no offer from them, and tear him limb from limb.”

Raihan couldn’t help the feral smirk that crossed his face. 

“I can see why secondary typing isn’t so bad, after all.” He replied in Kalosian, as well, and King grinned. 

“Quit with that fancy talk.” Matori snapped, and released a Volcarona into the field. “Gozu, you know what to do.”

“Ah, _merde._” King cursed, and Raihan bit his lip. 

“Why—what is it?” He said urgently, but King thrust his arm out at Matori.

“Pluton, Flamethrower!” He ordered, but Matori laughed viciously, shaking her head as she tutted at him.

“Volcarona, Quiver Dance!” She ordered, as her subordinate—Gozu, she’d said, laughed, too. 

“Scared, Steel-01?” He crowed, “Go, use Flash Cannon!” 

“Light Screen!” Raihan ordered, and Gladiolus threw his arms up, blocking off the blast of light that came from the Aggron. “King, what’s wrong?”

“They will pin us down with Rage Powder!” King called in Kalosian, “If she lands that Rage Powder, we will be powerless against that Aggron—it can Mega Evolve!” 

“Wait, but that means—” Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“They distract our Pokémon, and we are done for.” King barked.

“Right!” Raihan turned to Gladiolus, who brought his Light Screen down as the Aggron’s attack ended. “Gladiolus, use Stone Edge!” 

“You won’t get us that easily!” Matori snapped, “Gozu!”

“You got it!” He huffed, “Aggron, use Heavy Slam!” 

“Fuck!” Raihan gasped, “Turn around, Gladiolus!” 

Gladiolus whirled around, as King threw his hand out at his Pyroar. 

“Will-o-Wisp!” He ordered, only for _another _Pokémon to come charging at them, snarling angrily. King raised his arm defensively as Pluton whirled around, distracted from his move out of worry for his trainer, and Raihan’s eyes widened to see a _purple _Meowth charging at King, claws at the ready.

“Meowth, use Scratch!” Matori leered, “Volcarona, _Rage Powder!_”

“No!” Raihan growled, but a burst of red pollen washed over them. King slapped his hand over Raihan’s nose and mouth, and Raihan choked as the Rage Powder passed over them. He gaped up at King as he let Raihan go, and he grabbed the man’s wrist. “You okay?” He gasped, and King gave him a grin. 

“Immunity to toxins,” He said, and Raihan lit up in relief. “However…” He turned to look at Pluton, who began snarling, looking around confusedly for a moment, before he went charging at the Volcarona. 

Matori cackled, and threw her arm up. “Take it out with Leech Life!” The Volcarona shot forward, attaching itself to the Pyroar with a vicious hiss, and King was knocked back by Matori’s overeager purple Meowth, still scratching furiously—though ineffectively—at his arms protecting his face.

_No,_ Raihan thought desperately. _It can’t end here!_

“Gladiolus,” Raihan gasped, whirling around to look at Gladiolus, who seemed to stagger as Gozu laughed. 

“It’s over, kid!” He snarled, and thrust his fist into the air. “Aggron, Mega Evolve!” 

The Aggron was covered in a shell of light, and Raihan winced, covering his face as a Mega Aggron emerged from the shell. 

“Take them out with Focus Blast!” 

Raihan’s eyes widened. “Gladiolus, you have to—” He shook his head. “Gladiolus! Use Dragon Pulse to deflect the attack!” 

“It’s useless!” Matori crowed—

When Gladiolus did as he was told, whirling around to let loose a blast of draconic rage at the Aggron, meeting the Focus Blast halfway. 

“_What?_” Matori snapped, as Raihan’s eyes widened, filling with tears. 

“Stalwart?” He breathed, as Gladiolus panted, staring back at the Mega Aggron, who snarled at him angrily. 

“This knight follows only one king,” Gladiolus said to the Mega Aggron, standing up defiantly as Matori’s Volcarona let Pluton go in shock. “For Raihan, I will _die _if I must.”

“Then perish.” The Mega Aggron replied.

“End it with Dragon Pulse!” Raihan called, as Gozu thrust his fist out at his Mega Aggron.

“Focus Blast!” He ordered. 

Gladiolus fired a blast of draconic rage at the Mega Aggron, and the blast of energy from its attack met his halfway, caught in a deadlock.

“Keep up the pressure, Gladiolus!” Raihan called, and he jumped when he felt King’s hand on his shoulder.

“Allow me.” He said, and much to Raihan’s shock, _threw the purple Meowth into the middle of the blast._

The Mega Aggron hesitated at the sight of the Meowth, and Raihan nodded to himself. 

“End it, Gladiolus!” Raihan roared, and the Duraludon fired one final blast of draconic rage, throwing the Mega Aggron back against the wall. Gozu’s eyes widened in shock, as King turned around.

“Pluton, take your revenge.”

The Pyroar snarled, and dug its fangs into the Volcarona, still caught up in shock. Matori gasped, jerking out of her own shocked stupor, but she could do little else as Pluton let loose a Flamethrower as he held the Volcarona in his mouth. It fainted in his jaws, and he dropped it unceremoniously, almost _spitting _it out, and snarled at Matori, keeping her from approaching. 

The Mega Aggron sank to the ground, reverting to its old form, and the Meowth dropped down with a soft _thud_, fainted. 

“Let us go, Matori.” Raihan growled, turning to glower at her, and she glared at him. “_Now._”

There was no otherworldly timbre in his voice, no threatening hiss or snarl of a dragon inside him, but Raihan could feel it. If he reached a little further deeper, he could hear the dragon inside him, clawing at walls that would never break, and he had to admit it—he missed it.

He missed his secondary typing.

“_Fine._” Matori snarled, and Raihan took King’s wrist, pulling him along with Gladiolus and Pluton to the hangar. She stared at their retreating backs, and smirked viciously. 

“I will _not _let my prey go.”

* * *

“Gooms! Darude! Janus!” Gladiolus called, and the three dragons turned to see their trainer emerging from an access corridor, an equally tall redhead man and Pluton in tow. 

“Oh, Daddy!” Gooms sobbed, quickly hurrying to him, and Darude lit up. 

“Raihan!” He cried, and shot towards him. 

Raihan lit up, too, and he spread his arms. “Darude! Gooms!” 

The two dragons cuddled with Raihan, making him burst out laughing, and Janus flitted over in a calmer manner, huffing haughtily as Raihan pulled away from Darude and Gooms. Raihan gave Janus a grin, and spread his arms. 

“Hey, Janus.” He said, and Janus’s heart wasn’t made of stone. The Altaria cawed sadly, and he rushed forward, cuddling with Raihan—and wiping the smoke on his fluff off on Raihan’s clothes. His trainer burst out laughing, lightly smacking his Altaria on the side, and he pulled away from Janus, cupping his face in his hands. “I’ll give you a bath when we get outta here.”

He stopped, and looked at his team. “Where’s Gibble?” He asked, and they nodded at him eagerly. “Did she—did she manage to escape?”

Gladiolus nodded, and Raihan heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Good. Then I’m sure Cynthia managed to find her. C’mon, everyone, let’s go.”

“You will _not!_” Matori screamed, and Raihan’s eyes widened—

King shoved him aside, and Pluton pulled Janus away as a Beartic came charging at them. Raihan ushered his dragons back behind him, his eyes going wide as King withstood the Beartic’s charge, though he winced slightly. 

“King!” He called, and the man waved at him to go.

“Go! Leave now, while you can!” He snapped, “Pluton, Flamethrower!”

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Matori snapped, “Go, Weavile! Use Brick Break on the Pyroar! Beartic, block their escape with Icicle Crash!” 

Raihan grit his teeth, gripping King’s wrist and tugging, but the man didn’t move a muscle. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the caged dragon screamed.

_If it was free, they could save King._

“Take your trainer and go!” Pluton snarled at Gladiolus, who nodded reluctantly. He picked Raihan up, and his eyes widened. He shook his head wildly, squirming in Gladiolus’s grip as they hurried away. Above their heads, a Honchkrow and a Mienshao shot out from the distance and smacked aside the icicles that came crashing down towards them. 

“Gladiolus!” Raihan shouted. “We’re _not _leaving them! I _won’t _let that happen!”

“But…” Gooms looked back at the battle, at King holding back the Beartic while Pluton fought the Weavile. 

“Raihan, c’mon!” Darude begged, and he looked at Gladiolus, who slowed down, looking at his trainer. Raihan slid off Gladiolus’s back, and whirled around to look at King holding Matori’s Pokémon back. 

“Gladiolus, use Flash Cannon!” He turned to look at Gladiolus, and the Duraludon’s eyes widened as Raihan’s gaze softened, round and oh so _human _eyes pleading at him.

Suddenly, Gladiolus was not on a crashing airship, but in Raihan’s old bedroom in Hammerlocke Castle. Little twelve-year-old Raihan looked back at him, with those pleading blue eyes as he held up Gladiolus’s Pokéball. 

“Please.” He’d said, softer this time.

_“Tell me. Are you coming with me?”_

So many years ago, Raihan asked him the same thing, and with Arceus’s new gift to him, Gladiolus had always had the same answer. 

Gladiolus lowered his head. 

“Always, my beloved Raihan.” He said, and the three other dragons gasped as he strode up in front of Raihan, and let loose a blast of light from his maw, slamming right into the Beartic attacking King. Raihan’s eyes widened, and he lit up, nodding eagerly as he looked at the rest of his team. 

“You guys, too!” He said, and Darude and Gooms looked at each other worriedly, but Janus nodded, flying out in front of Raihan as well. “That’s it, Janus! Use Moonblast on the Weavile!”

The image of a moon shone behind Janus, and a blast of light slammed into the Weavile, throwing it back. 

“_What?_” King gasped, whirling around. “Raihan?” 

Gooms hurried up in front of him, and settled into a ready stance. 

“Gooms, knock them back with Surf!” Raihan grinned at King. “Darude, get Pluton out of the way!”

The Pyroar yowled in alarm as Darude shot forward, plucking him off the ground as Gooms’s Surf came crashing towards them, throwing Matori and her Pokémon back. 

“King, c’mon!” Raihan called, hurrying forward, and he grabbed King’s wrist, pulling him along towards the hole his team made in the wall of the plane. Darude set Pluton down after the Pyroar continued to snarl and struggle, and Darude hissed back at him, but he was smirking. The last of the captured Pokémon were gone by now, and Raihan could see a familiar shock of gold in the early morning sunlight outside, riding a beautiful Mega Garchomp. King went along with him, the man’s eyes wide as he let Raihan pull him along, and they came to a stop at the opening. King’s Honchkrow and Mienshao stood at the opening, too, watching them expectantly.

“Jove. Leonidas.” King breathed. “You two…”

Raihan clung onto the side of the opening, and he grinned wide as he looked outside. The airship was steadily losing altitude—the forest canopy was almost right beneath them now.

“Is that—” Raihan gasped, “_Cynthia!_” His eyes welled with tears when he saw a speckle of bright blue riding Cynthia’s Altaria. “_Gibble!_”

“Raihan!” They could barely hear her shout over the howling of the wind. “_Holy fuck, you madman!_”

“Yeah!” Raihan laughed, and turned to his team. He nodded at Gooms and Gladiolus, and he put them in their Pokéballs. He looked at King, who looked at his team, and then at Raihan. “C’mon, King. You’re free now, too.”

“Raihan.” King murmured, “There is a reason why I stay.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked. 

“It is because when another one like you appears,” He said, and he took Raihan’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I need to be here to set them free.”

“Wait—” Raihan began, and King gave him a wry grin. 

“This is where I say goodbye, Raihan.” He said, “Forget about me—but do not forget our conversations.”

“No!” Raihan gasped, and King gripped his hand harder—and Raihan winced at how _painful _it felt. As a dragon, he would likely have been able to shake King off—hell, he could have been able to carry the man off the plane himself, but now, Raihan was just human.

Human, and unable to save even the one life. 

“You asked me how I managed to stay sane, Raihan.” He said, as Raihan struggled in his grip. “It is love.”

“Love?” Raihan echoed. 

“There is a man I love—through the years, I have loved him. Returned to his embrace behind my eyelids. _He _was the hope that mattered to me—he became my _everything, _and what brought us together was Arceus’s gift to me. The memory of love has preserved my mind, my humanity.” King met Raihan’s gaze. “So do not forget, dragonborn. Hold love close to your heart, and you will _always _be human.”

He gave Raihan a wry grin.

“No matter how much closer we are to Pokémon.”

“I…” Raihan breathed, and King threw him out of the opening. Raihan’s eyes widened, but he had no time to scream, not as Darude and Janus came shooting out of the hole after him, screeching in panic. He looked up at the falling airship, and his eyes welled up with tears as he met King’s gaze one last time—and then the hole was covered up with ice. 

“_King._”

Raihan landed with a soft ‘_oof_’ on Janus’s fluff, and he and Darude shared Raihan’s weight between them as they flew up to meet Cynthia. Raihan turned to look at the airship—but much to his shock, it was suddenly _gone._

“Oh, Raihan!” Cynthia gasped, reaching out for him, and he reached for her, too, dazedly holding her hand. “Oh, shit. Oh, I was so worried about you.”

“I…” Raihan said faintly, and Cynthia patted Bellona’s neck, before reaching up to press a button on her earpiece.

“I found him.” She declared, “Yeah, he’s okay. We’re heading back to Eterna right now.”

Cynthia gave Raihan a kind smile, and Raihan looked back up at where the airship had been. Cynthia looked up at it, too, and sighed softly. 

“We’ll find them again.” Cynthia said gently. “They need to be brought to justice for stealing all that Pokémon you saved.”

“Pokémon… I saved?” Raihan blinked, and she cocked her head at him. 

“There were a bunch of Pokémon escaping the ship.” She said, and Raihan looked down at Janus and Darude, who gave each other knowing grins. “Oh! Did they do that?”

“Yeah, my team did that.” Raihan nodded, and looked back at the missing airship as he and Cynthia began to make their way back to Eterna City. “I was… doing something else.”

“Oh?” Cynthia hummed. “What were you doing in there?”

Raihan looked down at his hand, at his darkening skin that began to blossom into a bruise. He shut his eyes, and pressed his hand to his heart as he felt his eyes prickling with tears.

“I… made a friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bro innit fucked that raihan, the signature trainer with a duraludon, doesn't have a duraludon with the duraludon's signature ability? imma fix that.
> 
> anyway thank you to pokemon masters' give and take event Only <strike>[if you know what i mean.](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1359828145134686210?s=20)</strike>


	66. A Spot of Brightness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sure Leader Raihan wouldn’t be who he is without his typing, either. We saw what he did for the Mega Salamence in Sinnoh. It’s not _all_ terrible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "when will you stop advertising convalescence" when this goddamn fic stops involving the kalosians that's when

It was normal, sometimes, for Raihan or Leon to miss calls. 

Leon wasn’t particularly a religious person—then again, not many people in Galar were particularly religious, either—but sometimes he indulged in the thought that perhaps omens were real. He’d seen Raihan’s Contest performance that morning, he _knew _Raihan wouldn’t be able to call him that morning, but somehow, not having called Raihan in the morning always felt like a bad omen. 

The last time Raihan was at a Contest Spectacular, Leon at least had been able to text him. This time, Raihan had been too busy to answer him, and Leon didn’t want to bother him too much, either. 

This felt familiar, he thought bitterly as he sat outside the emergency room, glaring darkly at an unsuspecting wall across him. 

Next to him, Professor Sycamore was also on the phone—well, on a video chat [with his family](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412), and Leon was trying his best not to eavesdrop, but there was no way that he couldn’t.

“Yes. We’re waiting for him right now.” Sycamore said. “Meyer, I am so sorry—it wasn’t—yes.” 

Leon stole a glance at Sycamore’s screen, and he realised he was talking to a gruff-looking bearded man—his husband, right—and two more people: a sour-faced black-haired young man, and a blonde teen girl, her eyes welling with tears as a little orange Pokémon cuddled her cheek. 

“Team Rocket. That’s right.” Sycamore sighed, and he noticed Leon looking at him. “Oh, Mr. Chairman.”

“Sorry,” Leon said, shaking his head as he felt his cheeks burn, and Sycamore gave him a smile, taking his earphones off and unplugging them from his Rotom Phone. “Uh.”

“_Chairman Leon?_” Sycamore’s husband asked, and Leon nodded, swallowing nervously. “_My name is Meyer. I’m Augustine’s husband. Thank you so much for helping our Clemont out._”

“T-thank you.” Leon nodded awkwardly. “But to tell you the truth, sir, I think it’s _my_ fault he got in trouble. If I hadn’t invited them here…”

“No, it’s not anyone’s fault.” Sycamore said, patting Leon’s shoulder, and Leon blinked at him. “Clemont and I wanted to see the Hammerlocke Castle’s Nursery, yes, but none of us would have wanted what happened back there.”

“_Yeah._” The blonde girl said, nodding with a huff. “_Team Rocket’s been nothing but a pain in the ass. I’m Bonnie, by the way!_”

_Ah, Clemont’s little sister. _Leon gave her a smile, and peered at the young man who had still yet to talk. _That would be Alain, then._

“Hello, Bonnie.” Leon nodded, “Actually, Clemont helped out a lot during our battle, too. I’m really grateful for his help, as well.”

“_Still… to think that he got knocked out by an Earthquake… that’s never happened before._”

“_It wouldn’t happen at all._” Alain finally spoke, and Leon jumped. “_The Lumiose Gym has shock absorbers in the podiums where trainers stand. Clemont deals with ground-type opponents all the time, so he’d had them installed a long time ago._”

“_Oh, that’s true._” Bonnie hummed. “_I guess we wouldn’t have known, huh…_”

“_This isn’t part of that, uh,_” Meyer looked confused for a second, “_Enhanced secondary typing you mentioned?_”

Leon bit his lip, and he looked at Sycamore, who frowned thoughtfully.

“I don’t think so.” He said, shaking his head. “We’ve seen what electric-type Pokémon overcharged with electricity look like. They get violent, and they discharge a lot of electricity. That’s not what is happening with Clemont.”

“_Thank goodness he’s still just the same as always…_” Bonnie sighed, and Leon hummed, frowning. 

“I have a question.” He said, and the family fell quiet, looking at him expectantly. “Um… you don’t have to answer, but has Leader Clemont ever had it… bad?”

“Have it… bad?” Sycamore echoed.

“Like… I dunno, has he ever been in any great danger because of his secondary typing?” Leon asked. “You see, my boyfriend, Raihan, he’s got a secondary typing, too, and I want to understand what it’s like.” He looked down at his hands, and Sycamore’s expression softened on him. “It’s been difficult for him, and now that he’s so far away from me, I can’t help but worry about him all the time. So I… so I want to know what it’s like. For everyone else.”

“I see.” Sycamore nodded, and looked at his family. “I think Meyer might be able to answer that more accurately than I could.”

“_Well…_” Meyer scratched his cheek, humming. “_I think… all this started when Clemont was a little boy. About 7 years old, or something, just before he went to that school…_”

“_That’s before Bonnie was born._” Alain blinked, and Meyer nodded. 

“_Yeah. He’s always shown some kind of… well, I guess I should say, _attraction, _to electricity. It’s always been in him to work with machines and any other electric appliance well. Of course, I kept him with me while I worked in my repair shop, but before I knew it, he was getting way smarter than I am._” The man laughed fondly, shaking his head. “_And then he was just,_” He made a vague gesture, “_Lumiose’s boy genius of electric types._” 

“Hm…” Leon hummed. “Professor Sonia mentioned that people with extraordinary lives were more likely to be secondary-typed…”

“Ah, yes! I’ve read that paper.” Sycamore nodded, grinning brightly. 

“_Me too._” Alain said, humming. “_What was it… ‘extraordinary lives and deaths may be revealed as attributed to secondary typing’, or something like that._”

“Indeed.” Sycamore nodded. “I’m almost certain Clemont would qualify.”

“_Yeah, Clemont’s a genius!_” Bonnie nodded eagerly. “_I mean, his inventions blow up less frequently these days, too!_”

“Bonnie!” Sycamore huffed, and the blonde giggled, as Alain snickered into his fist. Meyer shook his head exasperatedly, but he was smiling. Leon smiled at that, but he quickly sobered up, sighing. 

“But it can’t be all smooth sailing, is it?” Leon asked, and Meyer hummed, thinking deeply.

“_Well… actually, yes._” He said, and Leon blinked at him in surprise. “_In fact, Clemont’s secondary typing is very useful in our lines of work,_” he gestured at himself and at his husband, “_And, of course, as a Gym Leader, for Clemont._” Meyer smiled. “_He may experience charging issues sometimes, like over- or undercharging, but it’s been easily fixed._”

“How?” Leon cocked his head.

“Oh, I have a Garchomp.” Sycamore said, and Leon turned to look at him, wide-eyed in surprise. “She’s… oh, that’s right, there are no Garchomps in Galar…” He hummed, closing his eyes in thought. “Well, she’s a Dragon/Ground type, and—”

“Like Champion Cynthia’s ace?” Leon asked, and Sycamore lit up.

“Ah, yes! Cynthia’s ace, Bellona!” He nodded. “My own Garchomp, Athenais, helps Clemont discharge when he’s overcharged.”

“_And we have our electric-type Pokémon to help him out when he’s undercharged!_” Bonnie chirped, “_We figured that there’s some level of electricity he needs a day, so he’s pretty much like a Pokémon, come to think of it!_”

“_I mean, Crepes_ is _Normal-type, too, he can’t be that far off._” Alain grinned slightly, and Leon let out a little surprised laugh. “_Think about it. Clemont, use Clemontic Charge!_”

“_It’s super effective!_” Bonnie giggled, and the siblings shared a moment of laughter.

“Alain, Bonnie, please stop teasing your brother when he’s not around.” Sycamore sighed, but he was smiling slightly when Leon’s worry seemed to disappear from his expression. “But there you have it, Mr. Chairman. Our Clemont is very happy with his secondary typing, and we are, too.”

“_I have no idea where he got it—it doesn’t run in my family, nor my late wife’s family, but I’d like to think it’s a blessing of sorts._” Meyer grinned. “_I’m grateful for the opportunities it offered my son. Of the opportunities it offers to all my kids, of the memories we’ve made with it._”

“Oh.” Leon breathed, and felt his eyes prickle at the softness of the man’s voice.

“_It’s what makes Clemont who he is, I suppose._” Bonnie hummed. “_He really wouldn’t be Clemont if he wasn’t electric-type too._”

“_That, and it’s helped us so many times now._” Alain murmured. “_He’s saved lives. And I know that other people with secondary typing could do the same, too._”

“I see.” Leon smiled, and Sycamore squeezed his hand gently, smiling fondly as he met the young man’s gaze. “I… never knew. All this time, we’ve… all we’ve seen is how terrible secondary typing could be.”

“_Not all of it is terrible._” Meyer shook his head. “_Of course, we’re lucky that electric typing only has the one weakness, and I understand that we are much luckier than those you’ve seen, Mr. Chairman, but… it’s a gift, too._”

“A gift.” Leon said softly. 

“_I’m sure Leader Raihan wouldn’t be who he is without his typing, either._” Alain said. “_We saw what he did for the Mega Salamence in Sinnoh. It’s not _all _terrible._”

“Oh!” Leon jumped. He’d almost forgotten about that. After everything, there was that. There was Nessa’s family, reliant on the gift of water-breathing, with their fishing lifestyle. There was Allister, able to connect with the world beyond, bringing people peace after so many years of pain. There was Lillie, charming and sweet, changing the world with kindness. Captain Kiawe, saving lives in an uncontrollable blaze. And now, Leader Clemont, with the electricity in his veins that illuminated Lumiose like a shining star. 

“_Maybe if we managed to strike a balance, secondary typing would take someone places._” Meyer hummed. “_We’ve found our pattern with Clemont. I hope the same could be said of everyone else, someday._”

“Me too.” Leon said softly. “I… thank you so much.” He smiled, and the family gave him kind smiles. “I’ve… never thought of it that way.”

“Of course, various factors will still influence other lives, but it’s a start.” Sycamore said. “I hope Leader Raihan will find his own balance. Hopefully, with you there to help him.”

“Yes.” Leon laughed, feeling his cheeks grow hot, and Sycamore smiled, before he turned to his family. 

“I suppose it’s time for me to go. Thank you, everyone.”

“_You got it._” Meyer gave him a mock salute.

“_Bring home Galarian curry roux!_” Bonnie cooed, and Sycamore nodded, chuckling. 

“_Take care._” Alain nodded, and Sycamore gave his family a wave before he ended the call. The scientist sighed contentedly, leaning back against his seat backrest, and Leon gave him a sheepish little grin. 

“I hope we’ve given you a spot of brightness in this otherwise bleak situation.” Sycamore sighed, and Leon nodded.

“Oh, more than.” Leon said, and Sycamore smiled at that. “Thank you, Professor, truly.”

The emergency room light suddenly changed to green, and Leon and Sycamore sat up, looking to the door to see Clemont striding out, giving them a wide, sunny grin. 

“Hey.” He greeted, and Sycamore shot to his feet, hurrying to Clemont to pull him into a hug. “Oh! Dad!” He laughed softly. “I’m fine.” He hugged Sycamore back, and he nodded at Leon over Sycamore’s shoulder. “Mr. Chairman.”

“Leader Clemont,” Leon breathed, getting up. “What did—what happened to you?”

“The Flygon’s Earthquake completely discharged me.” The blond explained, and Sycamore’s eyes widened. “It’s a Ground-type move, so I figured that’d happen, especially since I was right in the middle of it.” He hummed, tapping his chin in thought. “Of course, that was my hypothesis, but I couldn’t tell anyone about it—I _was _unconscious and all.”

“So what did they do?” 

Clemont flushed, and he looked off to the side.

“Well… um. They hit me with a defibrillator.”

Sycamore’s eyes widened, as Leon gaped at him. 

“Your _heart stopped?_”

“Slowed down!” Clemont stammered, “I-I mean, the ECG was picking up weak pulses, and—”

“Oh, Clemont!” Sycamore gasped, and hugged his son again. “Oh, _merde,_ you nearly _died._”

“_Nearly._” Clemont said, and the Professor huffed, giving him a pinch to his side. He winced, but then grinned at his father as they pulled apart. “But it’s nothing we can’t learn from.”

Leon stood at the side, gaping at them. 

“How could… you be so positive about that?” He asked softly, and Clemont blinked at him, cocking his head. “Aren’t you scared?”

“Well,” Clemont looked embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head, and he nodded. “Yeah. Of course I was. But I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

Leon blinked at him owlishly. 

“I mean,” the blond’s cheeks turned red. “I think one of the greatest gifts of humankind is their ability to adapt to anything. If we’ve lived through something, we can make it so that we’d never have to go through it again.” Clemont gained confidence as he continued to speak. “Through science… determination. I guess it’s like… what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. Because we have the power to change our lives.”

“Oh, Mr. Chairman.” Sycamore said warmly, and he strode forward, pulling Leon into a hug as well. Leon hadn’t realised he had tears rolling down his face until he saw that he was getting the man’s shoulder wet. 

“I-I’m sorry!” Clemont stammered, “I-I’ve never—um—I didn’t mean to make you cry, Mr. Chairman! I was—um!”

“No, it’s okay.” Leon laughed softly, patting Sycamore’s back, and the man moved away from him, smiling fondly. “Thank you for that, Leader Clemont. I mean it. You and your family have given me a different perspective on things.”

“O-oh.” Clemont smiled awkwardly. “Well, as long as you’re not actually angry at me.”

“I’m not.” Leon laughed softly. “We should head back.”

As if on cue, his phone pinged, and he grinned. 

“Time to figure out the truth.”

* * *

“Positive!” Sycamore cheered, holding Clemont’s hands, and the two of them danced together in the lab, Sonia’s delighted giggling ringing through the air like chiming bells. “Oh, Clemont! This is wonderful news!”

“Yeah!” The blond laughed, as they slowed down, and he grinned at Sonia. “Guess it’s for real, huh. I’d better give Volkner a call.” 

“Oh, that’s right,” Leon nodded. “Leader Volkner had been the first to notice your typing.”

Clemont nodded, and turned to Sonia. “Guess I’ll be part of your studies, too, Professor!”

“Yeah!” Sonia cheered. “Amazing! I finished up all of my testing kits so far, and with positive results! Lord Narcissus will _definitely _up the grant, too!”

“Congratulations!” Sycamore beamed. “What will be your phase two? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“Well, I was thinking of a kit that didn’t need PCR, maybe. I’d have to get the protein structure of _SecTy_ next, maybe?” Sonia cocked her head. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Sounds like a good place to start.” Sycamore beamed. “Please, if you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.” He handed her his business card, and she nodded. “My lab has elucidated protein functions as well. Maybe we can help.”

“Oh! Megafactor!” Sonia lit up, and Sycamore nodded. “Yeah! Okay!” She laughed happily. “I’ll give you a call, Professor!”

Leon and Ricki smiled at each other as they sat together in the pantry. 

“I have no idea what’s going on.” She said, and Leon laughed into his hand. 

“Basically, Sonia just confirmed that Leader Clemont does, in fact, have secondary typing.” He explained. “They’re currently talking about how they can help each other in the near steps of Sonia’s work.”

“_Oh._” Ricki nodded slowly. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Leon chuckled, and jumped when he felt his phone ring. He looked down, and his smile disappeared. Ricki sat up straighter in alarm. 

“Boss?”

“Professor, where will you be headed to after this?” Sonia asked, and Sycamore hummed.

“Well, I was supposed to see an old friend today,” he said. “Clemont, you’re welcome to join us, though if you’d like, you can see Wyndon. I’ll meet you at the hotel later.”

“I think I’ll go look around.” Clemont said, “Pick up some presents for everyone back at home while we’re here.”

“Right, of course.” Sycamore smiled, and lit up when the doorbell rang. “Oh, I think that would be him!”

“I…” Leon looked at Ricki, his expression grave. “We’re in big trouble.”

“Huh?” his assistant blinked, and when the door opened, Detective Robin stepped through.

“Ah, Robin!” Sycamore greeted, “Has Arsene asked you to pick me up?”

“Sorry, not exactly,” Robin shook his head, and looked at Leon. “Mr. Chairman, we’ve got a situation.”

* * *

Café Violette was almost always empty whenever they came over, Leon thought. It was almost _suspicious _at this point, but then again, he was grateful for the privacy it offered them, and he sighed deeply as he settled down across Robin at their usual table with a sigh. On the other side of the café was Robin’s husband and Sycamore, chatting together in rapid Kalosian. Leon could finally see just how _identical _the men were to each other—almost like twins, really, but he couldn’t dwell much on it when he saw Leah staggering out of the kitchen, wincing. His eyes widened when he saw her arm in a sling, and Robin’s expression tightened. 

“Leah, take a break in the back.” Arsene said, but the blonde shook her head. 

“I’m fine.” She said, and gave Leon a kind smile. “The usual, sir?”

“I think… this time, you should take it easy, Leah.” He said, and her gaze on him softened slightly. “What happened to you?”

“Kitchen accident.” Leah replied smoothly, and shared a look with Arsene. “But it’s alright. I have the Pokémon with me, sir, they’ll help with most of the work.”

“If you’re sure…” Leon said hesitantly, and she beamed at him. 

“Gotta keep at it!” she huffed, and made her way back into the kitchen. Robin patted Leon’s shoulder, and the younger man sighed, shaking his head. 

“Right.” He said, “How bad is it?”

“The Team Rocket hit on the quarantine facility injured 20 people, three in critical condition.” Robin replied. “We lost _everything._ They broke out the big guns, and a team called the Matori Matrix was there. They overwhelmed the guards, _everyone._ There were no Pokémon that were spared.”

Leon’s eyes widened. “Not even the eggs?”

“No.” Robin shook his head, and Leon felt his heart sink. He was glad he asked Ricki to stay with Clemont and show him around Wyndon. 

“Damn it.” Leon hissed, and Robin nodded, sighing deeply. “So… all we have as a lead is this… Matori Matrix, huh.”

“Yeah.” Robin nodded. “Actually, the woman herself wasn’t even there.” Leon blinked at him, and Robin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’re lucky that the grunts we arrested are a bit easier to interrogate. We gained some intel that Team Rocket’s current main base is in Johto, and that Matori is in Sinnoh, right now.”

“Sinnoh.” Leon’s eyes widened, and Robin nodded again.

“You’re not going to like this next bit, either.” He said, shaking his head, and Leon bit his lip. “I gave Looker a call. He knows a bit more about Matori and Team Rocket than we do, and he told me that he’s been chasing down a lead he’d encountered about a decade ago. Apparently, they’ve always known about secondary typed people.”

“Oh, no.” Leon breathed.

“There’s _some _operation about secondary typed people, but Looker doesn’t know what kind, or why. He’s attributed some missing persons cases to Team Rocket and their secondary typing research.” Robin said. “He’s got a feeling that Champion Red’s got something to do with it, but getting a hold of that man is about as easy as catching Arceus.” 

Leon frowned to himself. The last time he saw Red, he was in Alola. He didn’t know if he was still there, but he supposed it had to be a start. 

“Last I remember, Champion Red was in Alola. I think his husband—Blue—might be easier to contact. They should still be in contact with Professor Oak.” 

“Thanks.” Robin replied. “I’ll let Looker know. I’m pretty sure he’s in Kanto right now, anyway.”

“Right.” Leon nodded. “I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”

“You might want to check in on Duke Raihan, too.” Robin said. “Have you been in contact with him lately?”

Leon hesitated, and shook his head. 

“No.” He said quietly. “But… it’s normal. Sometimes we miss opportunities to talk to each other.”

“I see.” Robin nodded. “Hopefully we won’t encounter any more… anomalies for now. We’ll continue to interrogate the grunts we have, but they’re mostly tight-lipped about the more important details.”

“I understand.” Leon replied, and his expression softened when he saw Leah’s little Charmander scurry up to him with two Eevee Lattes on a tray, looking up at him worriedly. “Oh, hi, Matches.” Leon sighed, helping the Charmander put the cups of coffee on the table, before reaching out to her. “Would it be alright if I…”

“You’re more than welcome to do so, Monsieur.” Arsene called from across the café, and Leon was surprised to see a large, hound-like Pokémon approaching Sycamore, who was smiling at it kindly as he beckoned it closer with a piece of jerky in his hand. “Ah, this old girl is called a Houndoom. She’s not staff, but she appears where she pleases.” Arsene chuckled when the Houndoom let Sycamore pet it, chewing contentedly on the jerky he handed it. 

Leon nodded, and gently picked Matches up to put her on his lap, hugging her more to comfort himself than anything else. Arsene gave Leon a fond smile, and nodded. 

“I didn't bring my Garchomp because of Dexit,” Sycamore said, “But I’m surprised there’s still banned Pokémon here?”

“Yes, people who had foreign Pokémon that were Galarian locals prior to the bill’s passage were allowed to keep their partners, provided they do not leave their trainer’s private property.” Arsene gestured at the Houndoom. “Ishtar was one of them.”

“I see.” Leon nodded. “I’m glad she made it.”

“Me too.” Sycamore smiled, scratching the Houndoom under her chin, and she chuffed fondly, lazily thumping her leg on the floor. “I hope you’ll be able to resolve this Dexit problem soon, Mr. Chairman.”

Leon smiled witheringly, and thought of the emptied quarantine facility, and another underground auction that was likely opening soon. 

“Yeah,” he said tiredly. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha would you look at that sycamore back at it again with providing hope
> 
> huh
> 
> wait a sec


	67. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fuck, Cynthia, I owe him the fact I can see Leon again, and it’s _killing_ me thinking he can’t do the same for the man he loves.”

“Good morning!”

Raihan winced, and he opened his eyes to realise that he was in a warm, comfortable bed, wrapped up in soft, fluffy sheets that felt like clouds were under him. 

“Oh, well, it’s not really _morning _anymore, it’s like, 3 in the afternoon.”

“Gar… denia?” Raihan mumbled, and his vision finally cleared to reveal the redhead sitting next to the bed he was in, smiling down at him kindly. 

“Hey.” She greeted, giving him a sunny grin. “Man, you were out like a _light. _All the adrenaline must’ve knocked you right out, huh?”

“I guess I…” Raihan mumbled, slowly sitting up, when Gardenia shook her head, pushing Raihan down to lie back in bed. 

“Hey, take it easy. You’ve got an IV on you.” Gardenia said, and Raihan nodded dazedly, lying back down. He peered to his side to see the IV in his arm, and he winced, looking away from it as Gardenia smiled at him fondly. “Yeah, it’s pretty terrifying to actually see. I’m just glad you’re okay. Cynthia’s also conked out in the other room, but I think she’ll get up when she hears that you’re awake.”

“W-wait, where am I?” Raihan asked, and Gardenia gave him a sunny grin. 

“You’re at my house.” She said, giving his knee a pat, before getting up. “Okay, I’m gonna go let Cynthia know you’re up. Flint’s been being really annoying in the living room right now—”

“_Not the blue shell bullshit, Riley!_” They heard Flint yell from outside, and Gardenia shrugged, as Raihan burst out laughing. 

“See?” She huffed, but she was smiling. Gardenia gave him a little wave, and headed out the door, shutting it behind her quietly. Raihan heaved a long, tired sigh as he lay back in bed, staring at the ceiling. 

When they arrived at Eterna City, Raihan had fallen asleep immediately. He probably slept through all the medical tests done on him, and he winced—would Cynthia have noticed he’d lost his typing? Maybe she did. He didn’t know how to handle that, if she mentioned anything.

Raihan lifted his hand—the one King was practically crushing in his hand, and he peered at the dark bruise that was blossoming across his knuckles, his palm. 

“Who _are _you?” Raihan murmured, his expression tightening, and he balled his hand into a gentle fist. “I’ll save you, King. And then you’ll tell me _everything._”

“Raihan?” Cynthia’s voice came in from the door, and Raihan lit up as the blonde hurried into the room. “Oh, Raihan!” She sighed in relief, hurrying towards him, and she held his hand—thankfully, the uninjured one—and squeezed it gently. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay. You fell unconscious when we got back to Eterna.”

“I said it was probably the adrenaline.” Gardenia said, grinning slightly as she leaned on the door, and Cynthia laughed softly, shaking her head fondly. “Guess I was right, huh?”

“It seems so.” Cynthia nodded, and turned back to Raihan. “Your team’s currently with Gardenia’s team in her greenhouse. Except Gooms, of course, she’s in the guest bathroom right now.”

“Thanks.” Raihan nodded, and Cynthia helped him sit up. “What happened to me?”

“That’s what I wanna know.” Cynthia replied sternly. “I want you to tell me what you can remember that night we promised to have dinner with Aphis and her family.”

“Oh, shit! Aphis!” Raihan hissed, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay, they’re in a motel in the town.” Gardenia chirped, “Cynthia helped them with the lodgings for just one more night. Aphis didn’t wanna go without knowing you’re okay.”

“That’s… that’s good.” Raihan smiled tiredly. “I don’t want her to think I bailed out on them or something…”

“Don’t worry, I know you wouldn’t bail out on us like that.” Cynthia grinned. “So, what happened?”

“I went back into the Contest Hall, and someone knocked me out with chloroform.” Raihan said, and Cynthia’s smile turned into a concerned frown. “I couldn’t see who it was—they were behind me. I’m guessing after that, Gibble managed to escape, and I got taken to the Team Rocket plane.”

“Sounds like it.” Cynthia nodded. “What happened in the plane?”

“I woke up in a storage hangar. It was… really cold.” Raihan said lamely, and Cynthia’s eyes widened. “I’m okay, though! They turned up the heat. They wanted me alive, not dead.”

“That somehow worries me more.” Riley’s voice came from the doorway, and Raihan turned to see him and Flint were standing at the door. Flint gave Raihan a friendly mock salute, and the two men strode into the room. Flint pulled up a chair for himself as Gardenia ushered Cynthia into the chair she had previously occupied. Riley stood at the wall across Raihan’s bed, frowning in thought as he leaned against the wall. “They want you alive for something.”

“Yeah, my blood.” Raihan said, and the three other trainers in the room blinked at him in surprise. “Apparently, Team Rocket’s known about us even way before Sonia broke the story. They’ve known us for about a decade, and they’ve found out that when you transfuse a secondary typed person’s blood into a normal-type person, they gain the secondary typing.”

“What?” Cynthia gasped. “Are you telling me Team Rocket’s been kidnapping secondary typed people to… artificially produce secondary type people?”

“Their target market is currently the rich and powerful. Anyone who can pay the probably expensive price tag they’ve put on a bag of secondary typed blood.” Raihan scowled. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve started doing that to their people, too.”

“That’s despicable.” Riley hissed. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” Flint nodded. “I’ve heard of disappearances all over Sinnoh for a while now—sorry, Volkner has a habit of watching weird real crime videos on PokéTube—but now it’s starting to make sense.”

“Yeah, they’d been taking people. Sometimes, they’re duds—just people with legendary blessings, or people cursed by the legendaries. Only rarely do they come across a real secondary typed person.” Raihan’s expression fell. “Actually, I learned all this from another guy in there. He was the first secondary typed person they ever found.”

“Oh, Arceus…” Cynthia breathed. “So that’s what you meant when you said… making a friend.” She said faintly, and Flint and Riley looked at her as Gardenia rubbed her back. “Oh, Raihan, I’m so sorry…”

“I don’t even know who he is.” Raihan said, his voice brittle, and Cynthia squeezed his hand gently. “Not even his name.”

“Raihan…” Gardenia sighed sadly, and he gave her a little smile, and a shrug.

“I called him King. He didn’t seem to mind.” He said. “He’s Kalosian. Had the accent and everything. Really tall, with fading red hair. He was pretty frail, and he looked so… _tired._” Raihan squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his throat tightening. “He said he’d been there for a decade. Team Rocket experimented and tortured him for ten years. Hell, the Team Rocket admin there—Matori, that’s her name—was dehumanising him insistently.”

“_Fuck._” Flint hissed, wide-eyed in shock as Gardenia clapped her hands over her mouth, gasping softly. Cynthia’s brow furrowed as her hand tightened around Raihan’s. 

“That’s deplorable.” She growled, and Raihan nodded, his eyes burning with prickling tears threatening to spill.

“Steel-01, they called him. He was steel-type, too. Apparently steel-type secondary typed humans age slowly, are immune to toxins, they don’t get sick—that’s the only reason why he’s lasted so long.” Raihan’s voice shook as he thought of King, of the way the man’s bright blue eyes bore into his soul. “He told me he had nothing else left out here. He stayed behind to make sure people like me—people Team Rocket kidnap—would be able to escape.”

“So, when you fell out of the hole in the plane…” Cynthia said, and Raihan nodded.

“I tried to save King, Cynthia, I—” Raihan choked up, and he felt his tears roll down his cheeks, and Cynthia sighed sympathetically, pulling him into a hug. “He—he was just… so much stronger than I was. I couldn’t—I couldn’t pull him out with me. I tried, oh, fuckin’ _hell _I tried—”

“Shh,” Cynthia hushed him softly, rubbing his back as Raihan dissolved into tears, and Cynthia felt her own eyes prickling. “It’s okay. You tried. That’s what matters.”

“Before he threw me out, he told me—he told me he had someone—out here.” Raihan choked out. “Someone he loves. He has to—it’s been _ten years._”

“I know.” Cynthia said, her own voice strained as she pressed a kiss to Raihan’s temple. 

“He knows—he knows they can’t kill him, they can’t really _harm _him, so he keeps doing it. He’s tried so many times to free people—there’s been more people he’s helped, but—but only a few made it out.” Raihan clung onto her, and the shimmering gold of her long hair wrapped around him in the fragrant scent of lilies. “Fuck_, _Cynthia, I owe him the fact I can see Leon again, and it’s _killing _me thinking he can’t do the same for the man he loves.”

Gardenia sniffled softly, and Flint sighed fondly, pulling her close to himself to hug her, one-armed. She buried her face in her hands as he rubbed her back, and Riley lowered his head. 

“We’ll find them.” Cynthia murmured, “And then you can try again. You can save King, Raihan.” 

Raihan nodded, sniffling softly.

“_After _you get your secondary typing back.” She whispered, and his eyes widened. She pulled away from him, smiling as she cupped his cheek in her hand, thumbing away at his tears. “I believe in you, Raihan. You’re the only person who can save King.” She squeezed his hand tenderly, “And… your dragon blood is the only thing that could do that.”

“Yeah,” Raihan said shakily, nodding. “I… I know.”

* * *

“And that’s about it, yeah! What do you think, Lord Narcissus?” 

Sonia stood next to Hop, smiling brightly, but internally, she was a big ball of nerves, a Butterfree’s G-Max Befuddle set off in her stomach. The redhead was vibrating with nervous energy, which luckily had not translated into stutters or a shaky voice, and she was able to present her findings with as clear a voice as she would like it to be. Across her, Narcissus hummed thoughtfully, chin resting on his steepled fingers as his assistant stared at the presentation with a neutral expression on her face. 

“All five of them, positive for the gene, you said?” Narcissus asked, and Sonia nodded eagerly. “Intriguing. So it seems this gene is indeed the identifying factor for secondary typed people.” He hummed, and gave her a smile. “That’s wonderful news, Professor Sonia. You’ve certainly piqued my interest!”

“Oh!” Sonia lit up, and she felt all of her nerves rush out of her, replaced with the sweet coolness of relief as she sighed happily, leaning on Hop’s side as he grinned at her. “Thank you so much, Lord Narcissus!”

“But of course.” Narcissus chuckled, and Sonia couldn’t help but wonder where the snake of a man Leon and Raihan complained about went. Like this, Lord Narcissus was anything _but _the man Raihan complained about a lot, but then again, Sonia was no fool—she wasn’t about to take anything this man was offering her at face value. “Very well. Professor, your proposal for a rapid identification kit is approved.” 

Sonia beamed at him, and resisted the urge to jump up and down in glee.

“Oh, and another thing!” The man huffed pleasantly. “Would it be too much to ask if you could also characterise this SecTy protein you’ve mentioned? Or… whatever product this seems to be?”

Sonia gaped at him. “No way!” She gasped, and Hop elbowed her in the side. She quickly reeled herself in when Narcissus gave her a fond little smile, cocking his head in mild confusion. “S-sorry! I-I mean, yes! Of course! I’d love to!” She stammered, “I had planned to include that in the third stage of this grant, but—oh, of course! It would be fantastic if I could have both projects! In fact, I think, if I characterised this product, I’d be able to make an even faster identification kit!”

“Marvellous!” Narcissus nodded. “I’m counting on your bright mind, Professor Sonia.”

At that, Hop stopped. _That’s an odd way of putting it,_ he thought, but he paid it no mind as he saw the constellations in Sonia’s eyes as she nodded eagerly.

“Of course, Lord Narcissus! Thank you so much!” She beamed. “We’ll get to work on it soon!”

Narcissus chuckled, and gave Hop a nod. 

“Thank you for your assistance as well, Mr. Hop.”

“You’re welcome, sir.” Hop said, and he felt no small amount of enjoyment seeing the man’s eyebrow twitch slightly at the lack of his use of Narcissus’s title. “We’d better get going so that we can plan out how to start the study early tomorrow morning.” 

“Right!” Sonia huffed, “I’m so excited!” She gave Narcissus a wave as Hop packed up their things quickly. “Thank you again, Lord Narcissus. We’ll be back with good news soon!” 

Narcissus gave the two scientists a gracious nod, and he gestured at the door. “Emmy, if you please?”

“Milord.” The young woman nodded, giving him a polite curtsy, before accompanying Hop and Sonia out the door. Narcissus’s smile slid off his face when the door shut, and he took a deep breath, shaking his head as he moved the Wedgehurst Laboratory’s report aside on his desk to look at a tablet. He scrolled through the list on the tablet, humming in thought as he nodded approvingly. 

“Good. This should be enough for the sale.” He murmured, when the doors swung open. Narcissus looked up to see Sena striding through, and he pulled a smile onto his lips as the young man came to a stop in front of him. “Ah, Leader Sena. Lovely to see you today.”

“Hi, Lord Narcissus.” Sena said curtly. “Have you heard about what happened this afternoon?”

“This afternoon?” Narcissus asked innocently as Sena unlocked his phone, and showed the man his screen. “Oh, dear.”

“The Hammerlocke Quarantine Facility was hit by a band of _thugs_.” He said, “They lost so much Pokémon in there.”

“That is indeed terrible.” Narcissus said placatingly, and he held his hands up, smiling at Sena. “Leader Sena, please. Rest assured that the Derbyton Quarantine Facility will be an impenetrable fortress.” 

“We had Rudy, whom I had to take care of myself.” Sena deadpanned, and Narcissus shrugged, laughing softly. “Lord Narcissus, please!” The blond looked at him pleadingly. “You promised.”

“It will be alright, Leader Sena.” The man said gently, getting up to hold Sena’s hands, and the young man pouted at him. “We shall see the Derbyton Quarantine Facility ourselves tomorrow. How is that, my dear?”

“Only if it means Lemons and Snips don’t end up in Team Rocket hands.” Sena replied, and Narcissus nodded. 

“Of course, of course.” The man replied. “I promise.”

“Good.” Sena huffed, and pulled away from him. “I’m counting on you, milord. You’re the only one who can help me right now.”

“My dear, that is what I am here to do.” Narcissus chuckled, and Sena gave him a sweet little smile. “How about this—would you do the honour of having dinner together again? Unless you have prior arrangements?”

“No, I don’t.” Sena shook his head. “I’ll wait for you in the lobby?” 

“As always.” Narcissus nodded, and Sena gave him a wave, before heading out the door. Narcissus heaved an exhausted sigh, and dropped himself down on his seat. “A handful, this child… still, he _is _close to Chairman Leon. The man would not dare hurt Leader Sena, his heart bleeds too much.”

He grinned to himself, and looked at the tablet on his desk again. 

“Another profitable evening, I would say.”

* * *

As soon as the doors shut behind him, Sena pulled a face, making a loud gagging noise before he quickly pulled himself together, hurrying into the lift that would take him back down to the lobby of Magiflora Mining. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and Busby flitted out of it, grinning at him mischievously. 

“Did you get it?” He asked softly, and Busby bobbed in affirmation. “Good job!” He lit up, and his Rotom went back into his phone, showing Sena the data he got from Narcissus’s tablet on his desk. “Okay, let’s see…”

His eyes widened when he saw a long list of Pokémon. There was a sinking feeling in his gut about what it meant, and he scrolled to the top of the list to see a location—not too far away from Derbyton, along Route 3—and a date and time. Sena frowned to himself—the date was for a few months from now. There was something off about it, and Sena knew he had to _do something_. 

Busby flitted out of his phone as the lift dinged his arrival at the ground floor, and he frowned down at his phone, staring at the list as he strode past someone on their way into the lift. He bumped their shoulders, and he grunted softly.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, but walked onwards, Busby staring at the newcomer, but unable to speak much of them as they stepped into the lift, quickly shutting the door. “Busby, I’m gonna need you in here for a sec?” Sena asked, and the Rotom shrugged.

_Oh, he’ll figure it out eventually, _it thought, and zipped back into Sena’s phone.

In the lift, Emi took a shuddering breath as she pressed herself against the wall, releasing the tension in her shoulders with every breath she took.

“_Holy fuck._” She hissed, “That was close.”

She looked at her phone, and smirked at the photo she took of the list on Narcissus’s tablet.

“Raihan will wanna hear about this.” She murmured. “If we catch him in the act, then that’s _definitely _enough to disqualify him from inheriting.”

Emi sighed, pressing her phone to her chest as she shook her head. 

“Damn it, Raihan,” She laughed weakly. “I hope this is all worth it…”


	68. All Of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I love you. All of you.”

There was a positively _beautiful _restaurant right in the heart of Eterna City, nestled in a gorgeous garden of foliage and flowers, lit with glowing amber lanterns that had miniature Butterfrees and Beautiflies attached to them. It was a welcome sight after the hours they’d spent at the Eterna City Police Station, and Raihan lit up at the sight of it. Cynthia chuckled fondly at him as she elbowed him gently.

“Thinking of bringing Leon here?” She asked, and Raihan grinned at her.

“Yeah. It’s gorgeous.” He replied. “Maybe someday, when this is all over… we’ll travel around the world.” 

“Must be nice.” Cynthia sighed happily, and they stepped into the restaurant’s gazebo. Raihan lit up when he saw Professor Rowan sitting with a small family of three—a man, a woman, and little Aphis, who squirmed out of her seat to hurry to Raihan. Raihan gave her a wide grin as he bent down to catch her as she tackled him, and he hugged her close, sighing happily as he rubbed her back. 

“Hey, Aphis.” Raihan said warmly, and she pulled away, giving him a wide grin. “Sorry I disappeared.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” She said warmly, and he chuckled, ruffling her hair as he got up. She took his hand, and together, the three of them strode to the table where Aphis’s family and Professor Rowan were sitting. Raihan gave Aphis’s parents an awkward little smile, and they returned it with kind smiles. Aphis went back to sit next to her mother as Raihan and Cynthia settled down next to Professor Rowan.

“I hope you don’t mind that we’ve already ordered.” Rowan said, and Cynthia nodded. “We made it a point to eat something different than last night, you understand how it is.”

“Sorry.” Raihan laughed sheepishly, and Aphis’s father shook his head. 

“It’s okay. You ran into a bit of trouble, didn’t you?” He asked, and Raihan nodded. “It’s alright. Not like this place is a bad place to eat, either.”

“That’s true.” Aphis’s mother chuckled, and the little girl giggled brightly. “Well, Mr. Raihan, we’re here to sincerely thank you for your support of our little girl.”

“Huh?” Raihan blinked, and Aphis’s parents nodded eagerly. 

“We sincerely apologise for being neglectful of our daughter’s needs—but we saw how important it was to Aphis. How important it was to you—and probably way more people in the world out there.” Her father said. “Thank you, for being there for her when she needed it most. And for saving her life, of course. We owe you a great deal, Mr. Raihan.”

“And now, she has her typing back.” Her mother nodded. “We’re going to do better, from now on. We’ll support her in every way, with her Bug typing, and all her new Pokémon friends.”

“Thank you.” Raihan said softly, his expression growing warm, and Cynthia smiled fondly at that, patting his knee gently under the table. “I think…” He shut his eyes, and thought of King. He smiled fondly, and the dragon in his heart purred softly as it settled against its cage bars, huffing a warm breath of acceptance. Raihan reached forward to hold Aphis’s hand in his, and her eyes widened when their gazes met.

Maybe she noticed his eyes. Maybe she understood something Raihan could never say—at least, not yet, because there was first shock, and then understanding and sheer _warmth _in the little girl’s eyes when she looked back at him.

Raihan wondered if she knew he was no longer a dragon. He wondered if she thought that he gave it up so she could gain her typing again. 

“It’s a part of you.” He said softly. “It’s what makes you unique.” 

Aphis nodded absently, and he let her hand go, patting it gently. 

“Be proud of it, Aphis. It’s gonna get you places.” Raihan smiled, and she smiled back at him.

“You too.” She said, and Raihan felt his eyes prickling. “We can do this, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, and laughed softly as Cynthia rubbed his back. “Y-yeah. We can.”

* * *

The streets of Eterna City were cool and gorgeous at night, and Raihan definitely knew that he was going to take Leon here someday, when everything was over. Beside him, Cynthia breathed gently into her hands, rubbing them together, as Rowan took a swig from his flask. Raihan smiled at the two archaeologists with him, and he nodded to himself as he took a deep breath.

“Hey, Cynthia?”

“Hm?”

“I just have something to ask.” He said, and the three of them came to a stop at the looming statue of an ancient Pokémon. Rowan hummed softly, and he dropped himself down on a bench, making the two younger trainers chuckle fondly. Raihan gestured at the bench, too, and Cynthia sat down with a sigh. 

“What’s up?” She asked. 

“How’d… how’d you know I lost…” Raihan stopped himself when Arceus’s chains tightened around his throat, but he didn’t need to say anything else when Cynthia’s expression sobered up in understanding. Rowan raised an eyebrow at Cynthia, and the blonde laughed dryly.

“When you said you couldn’t overpower King.” She admitted. “And… to tell you the truth, I’d been suspecting it since you and Steven came back from the Lake of Life. It’s _impossible _that only Steven walked away from that as a changed man. I _knew _something happened to you, too, but all I had going for me was how… _big _your eyes were.” Cynthia sighed, and turned to Rowan. “Professor, you knew, though, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Rowan nodded. 

“He was the first to notice.” Raihan said.

“I figured.” Cynthia chuckled. “He was more protective of you than usual this past month, you know.” Raihan smiled at that, and she gave him a kind little smile. “Whatever it was that happened to you in there, Raihan, just remember—we’re right here with you.”

“Thanks.” Raihan sighed, and Rowan hummed. 

“That was very interesting, what you said back there to Aphis.” He said, and Raihan chuckled sheepishly at that. “Has something changed, my boy?”

“Yeah.” Raihan looked up at the sky, up at the ancient Pokémon looming over their heads, and sighed. “Thought… maybe I should give this secondary typing thing a second chance.” His hand balled into a fist, and he pressed it against his heart. “There’s some things only I can do, after all, and only as a dragon.”

“Despite everything?” Cynthia asked, but she was smiling.

“A long time ago, I said this was unsustainable, but…” He turned back to her, and smiled slightly. “Maybe I just wasn’t trying hard enough.” He sighed, shutting his eyes. “And I _certainly _don’t have the right to be speaking for everyone with secondary typing.”

Raihan’s heart clenched when he thought of King, and he wondered what was happening to him right now. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were doing to him, honestly, and he _knew _he had to come save the man, whether he wanted Raihan to or not. 

“King helped me realise that.” He said, “And I want to thank him by saving him from Team Rocket.”

“I see.” Cynthia said warmly. “I’m sure you’ll find him again.”

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, determination in his eyes. “I _know _I will.”

* * *

Leon slowly sat up, groaning tiredly as he blinked at his phone. Next to him, Pumpkin slept soundly, pillowed comfortably in a bed of fleece blankets, while behind her, Sandie snoozed with an affectionately loud sound. Leon smiled at that, gently scratching the Sandaconda’s head, earning him a sleepy little smile from the old Pokémon. He pressed a kiss to Pumpkin’s head, and she gnashed her jaws pleasantly in her sleep. 

On the other side of him, on his large Pokémon bed, Red raised his head, groaning softly in confusion as he woke. He blinked slowly at Leon as he sat up in bed carefully, and the Charizard yawned, leaving his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he calmed down. 

“Oh, you’re so cute.” Leon chuckled softly, as his Rotom Phone floated up from his bedside table to take a photo of Red. Leon felt his heart swell when his Charizard graciously held still long enough for the photo to get taken before he settled back down with another lazy yawn. Leon shook his head, and looked back down at Pumpkin, who was still very much fast asleep. “She sleeps a lot, doesn’t she, Sandie?” he asked softly, when the Sandaconda looked up at him slowly. “I can’t help but think… if that’s because of the Rocket Controller on her.”

“She says she is always tired,” Sandie hissed, though Leon couldn’t understand him. “She doesn’t understand why. Perhaps it is the pain she went through, before.”

“I wonder…” Leon murmured, but he lit up when his phone rang. “Raihan.” He breathed happily, and he quickly picked up. 

“_Hey, babe._” Raihan was currently in a familiar wood cottage he’d seen him stay in for the past week—he hadn’t left Eterna yet, it seemed. “_Oh, you’re a sight for sore eyes._”

“You were amazing yesterday!” Leon said, and Raihan blinked at him confusedly. “At the Contest! With Janus and Gooms.” At that, Raihan lit up in recognition, and he beamed brightly. 

“_Oh, shit! You were watching._”

“Of course I was!” Leon laughed softly, “I wouldn’t miss your Contest performances—they’re the only ones I can actually watch live.” His heart still jumped at the sound of Raihan’s laughter, but right now, the relief that surged in his chest was also—inexplicably—worrisome. He didn’t know _why _he felt so _worried—_Raihan was fine, there was no Team Rocket after him, he’s _safe _and in a home in Sinnoh—

“_That’s true._” Raihan’s smile seemed to crumble at the edges, and Leon’s expression fell.

“Something’s wrong.” He said softly, and Raihan nodded, his smile quickly diminishing, and Leon couldn’t help the clenching feeling in his chest, seeing Raihan’s eyes so… _big._

They’d been particularly big, lately, ever since the typing intensification happened. Leon didn’t know what happened to Raihan—he always seemed to struggle articulating himself when Leon asked about him, how he was doing, how the dragon blood was treating him. There was something _wrong, _but if Raihan couldn’t tell him, all Leon could do was be brave, and trust him.

That, and someday, he hoped he could be strong enough to talk to Raihan about his visit to Rose, too. 

“_Yeah._” Raihan said shakily. “_It’s… gonna be pretty heavy. You ready for this?_”

“For you, Raihan, always.” Leon said, “Tell me.”

* * *

King’s story never got easier to tell, Raihan thought, as he finally pursed his lips, blinking through tears as he stared at Leon, whose cheeks were also wet, his hand now clasped in his Charizard’s claw. Red had woken up when he heard Leon crying as Raihan told him his story, and the Charizard had taken to holding Leon’s hand through it, all while glaring at Raihan through the phone screen. The big old lizard’s petulance, though, was enough to give Raihan the strength to finish his story. 

“_I had no idea… oh, Arceus, this is so much bigger than we thought it’d be._” Leon breathed, and Raihan nodded. “_You’re—you’re okay now though, right?_”

“Yeah. I… can’t say the same for King, though.” Raihan said, his hand balling into a fist. “I… I owe him so much—that I can see you again, it’s all because of him.”

“_You have to save him too._” Leon said. “_I’ll do whatever I can to help._”

“Thanks, Lee.” Raihan smiled sadly, and Leon shook his head.

“_Team Rocket’s been showing their ugly mug here, too._” He replied, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “_I’m actually surprised Hammerlocke hasn’t called you yet about it._”

“Wh—” Raihan began, and he shook his head. “No, I didn’t receive anything.”

“_Damn it._” Leon hissed. “_You see, an elite team of Team Rocket members called the Matori Matrix—yeah, _that _Matori, I’m guessing the same woman you talked about—_” Raihan nodded eagerly. “_Yeah, them? They attacked the Hammerlocke Castle Nursery, and the Hammerlocke Quarantine Facility._”

“_What?_” Raihan hissed, “What—but the eggs—”

“_Unfortunately for them, I was there at the Hammerlocke Castle Nursery._” Leon grinned witheringly, and Raihan smiled at that in relief. “_Though, I ran into a lot of trouble. The hit on the Hammerlocke Quarantine Facility hit the hardest. They lost _everything.”

“_No._” Raihan breathed, and Leon nodded grimly. “Oh, _fuck._”

“_Team Rocket’s getting more active. More Dexited Pokémon are running free these days, but all my efforts at repealing the act haven’t made any impact yet._” Leon shook his head. “_It’s all Team Rocket BS, I can feel it. And now with you as a target… I have a bad feeling about this._”

“Me too.” Raihan frowned. “Maybe with all your efforts at repealing Dexit, they’ve amped up their efforts in making the most cash out of smuggling.”

“_That’s what Detective Robin suspects, too._” Leon nodded. “_But I can’t help but feel like this goes deeper._” He huffed, shaking his head. “_Or maybe I’m just overprotective of you._”

Raihan smiled slightly at that. “Love you too, babe.”

“_I love you._” Leon finally smiled, and he chuckled fondly.

“Well,” Raihan sighed, “Anything else that happened to you lately? That isn’t depressing?”

“_Oh, that’s right! I met Professor Sycamore yesterday. You remember him, right?_” Raihan nodded. “_Yeah, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him when we went to train with the Kalosian League a few years ago, but today, I got to know him some more._” 

“That’s great.” Raihan nodded. “Oh, that’s right—you mentioned you were getting Leader Clemont tested? Yesterday?”

“_Yeah! He’s tested positive for the SecTy gene, he really _is_ secondary typed!_” Leon said, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “_I actually saw how he uses his ability—he can’t live without electricity, apparently._”

“I don’t know if I want to know the context behind that statement.” Raihan said weakly. 

“_Well, first of all, he really is a human semiconductor._” Leon nodded. “_Just like what we saw in Pasio. Electricity travels through him like it’s nothing, he uses it to charge his phone, too._”

“Wow.” Raihan blinked. “Not gonna lie, that sounds _really _useful.”

“_Yeah, to a phone addict like you._” Leon chuckled warmly, and Raihan grinned fondly, blowing him a kiss. “_There’s apparently a set amount of electricity he has to maintain, and ground-type moves are… well, super effective on him._”

“Super… effective?” 

“_You see, I was at the Hammerlocke Castle Nursery because I was showing Professor Sycamore and Leader Clemont around while we waited for the SecTy results. Then Team Rocket hit._”

“Well, I mean, if you were there, none of them would’ve stood a chance against Red.”

“_Except… I didn’t have my team on me._” Leon admitted lamely. “_I know, I know—you told me to keep them on me at all times, I just—I forgot my harness at the Wedgehurst lab._” Leon sighed. “_Luckily, Patroclus and Sandie were there to help out, and Leader Clemont had his Heliolisk._”

Raihan nodded. “Where’d they hit? Which nursery?”

“_The one in the north wing. Cereus got mad, and hit us all with an Earthquake, discharging Leader Clemont in the process._” 

“Oh, Cereus…” Raihan shook his head. “That old Flygon can have a bit of a temper problem.”

“_Yeah._” Leon laughed. “_Helpful, though. Even if we had friendly fire._” Leon sighed happily, and leaned back in his seat. “_Y’know… something Leader Clemont’s family said got me thinking._”

“Oh?” Raihan cocked his head. 

“_They said that his secondary typing was a gift—a blessing._” Leon said. “_That… it was what made Leader Clemont who he was. That he wouldn’t be himself without it._”

_It is what makes you unique, _King had said. Raihan’s eyes prickled. 

“_It helped him save lives. Kind of like what you did, with the Mega Salamence._” Leon smiled. “_Raihan… maybe not all of this is terrible. I—I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, Rai, but I can wait. You know I’ll always wait for you._”

“Lee…” Raihan breathed. 

“_But… I don’t know if any of what I say matters, but you… wouldn’t be you without your dragon typing, either._” Leon sighed happily. “_I love you. All of you. And I’m sure other people may feel the same way about their typing. I know Nessa loves it, too, and Allister has made peace with his._”

“King, too.” Raihan said softly. “Despite everything… King loves his secondary typing. Aphis—” Raihan took a shaky breath. “Aphis too.”

“_Oh, Aphis…_” Leon sighed. “_I wonder if she’ll get her typing back._”

“She did.” Raihan said, and Leon’s eyes widened. “She came to see me here in Eterna to let me know. Said that she was so happy to get it back.” He sniffled softly. “Said that… her Combee friend was back, her friends at school became kind to her, her parents… support her.”

“_Oh, Rai…_” Leon said warmly. “_I guess… it really is not all that bad, huh._”

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed. “It… really isn’t. I shouldn’t speak for everyone with secondary typing, huh.”

“_It’s okay. We’re learning._” Leon replied. “_Professor Sycamore’s husband said that maybe if we managed to strike a balance, secondary typing would take someone places._” He hummed. “_They found it with Leader Clemont. Maybe all we need is to find it for you, and everyone with secondary typing, too._”

“A balance.” Raihan nodded slowly. “That… sounds nice.”

“_It’ll be hard, but I’m with you, every step of the way._” Leon said. “_I love you, Rai. We’ll get through this._”

“Yeah.” Raihan laughed, wiping at his eyes. “Love you too, Lee.”

* * *

Leon felt Pumpkin snuggle against him, and he jumped. He looked down at the sleepy Trapinch as she nibbled on his shirt, and he smiled. 

“Hey, Raihan? Do Trapinches sleep a lot?” He asked. 

“_Huh?_” Raihan blinked at him. “_No. Skitteriest bastards in the world, those things._”

Leon frowned, gently stroking Pumpkin’s head. “Huh.” 

“_What’s wrong?_”

“You see, Pumpkin spends most of her time sleeping rather than being awake.” Leon said, “I don’t know why. Do you think this is because of the Rocket Controller put on her?”

“_Possibly._” Raihan frowned. “_You should show her to Nurse Joy, just in case._”

“Okay.” Leon sighed. “Speaking of which, you’ve got a bit of a performer here! Sandie really likes Contests too!”

“_What, really?_” Raihan lit up. “_You’ve still got some groove in those old bones, huh, Sandie?_” 

Sandie hissed happily, slithering closer to Leon, where Raihan could still see the tip of his snout in the camera. 

“_I’d love to bring him along, but he’s got joint problems now… the stuff Janus and Gooms do are pretty movement-heavy, too._”

“Yeah.” Leon sighed, stroking Sandie’s head gently. “Oh, by the way. Your birthday’s coming soon. Anything you want sent over?”

“_Really?_” Raihan grinned. “_You’ll send little ol' me somethin’?_”

“Rai.” Leon drawled, but he was grinning, too. “C’mon. And no, an extra supply of GWeez doesn’t count.”

“_Nah, I don’t need the GWeez. The Devon Corporation took care of that for me._” Raihan huffed, and Leon sobered up slightly. Back again to the secondary typing problem—still, aside from Raihan’s kidnapping, his typing didn’t seem to bother him…

If it was there at all, judging by Raihan’s round eyes. 

“_Surprise me._” He said, and Leon was pulled to the present, blinking at his fiancé‘s cheeky grin. “_Think you can do that?_”

Leon looked down at Sandie, and an idea slowly came to mind. He grinned, and nodded. 

“Yeah, I think I can.” He said, and Raihan beamed at him. He made a move to continue speaking, when his phone alarm rang. “Oh, shit. I gotta go to work.”

“_Take care, babe._” Raihan blew him a kiss. “_Work hard again today._”

“Sweet dreams, Rai.” Leon smiled. “Sleep well.”

Raihan gave him a wave and hung up. Leon sighed happily, pressing his phone to his heart, and he grinned. 

“Surprise him, he said. I’ve got _just _the idea.”

He hurried out of bed, chuckling. 

“Rotom, could you make me a reminder to go to the Hammerlocke U Clothing Tech department later during lunch break?”

“_Setting reminder!_” His Rotom chirped. 

Leon thought of the Turtonator-themed suit jacket he stole from Raihan’s closet. He knew the same student that made that was still in Hammerlocke U, now a faculty member. If he could contact her again… 


	69. A Dragon's Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _If you wish for it with all your heart, child, then it will come to be._
> 
> _If you love Raihan, then I will grant you the power to protect him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (looks at chapter number)
> 
> NICE

_ONE WEEK LATER_

“Been a while, dig site.” Cynthia sighed fondly, stretching out with a wince and a happy sigh as she stepped out of her off-road vehicle. Raihan smiled fondly, and she turned to look at him. “Month’s up. You’re nearly out of the woods, Raihan.”

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed, and she gestured for him to follow her to her tent. Raihan picked up his bags, hurrying after her, and they quickly got settled down in their respective rooms, before regrouping in Cynthia’s office, where she was carefully considering something in an evidence bag. Raihan cocked his head at the blonde as he came out of his room, but she put the bag down, smiling at him kindly. 

“Ready?” She asked, and Raihan took a shaky breath.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He smiled witheringly, and she chuckled, punching his arm lightly.

“We’ll finally be able to hear from you. That’s gonna be a relief, honestly.”

“Yeah, I’m glad to be rid of this shit.” Raihan looked towards the flaps of the tent, where he knew, just beyond it, was the gate to the Lake of Life. “Not gonna lie, I can’t wait to get back to normal.”

“Yeah?” Cynthia smiled, and he gave her a weak little smile.

“Yeah. I… kind of miss it. Being a dragon and all.”

“That’s nice.” Cynthia hummed, nodding as she picked up the evidence bag. Raihan raised an eyebrow at it as they strode out of the tent together. “Oh, I bet you’re curious.” She chuckled fondly, and Raihan laughed.

“Guilty as charged.” He replied. “So? Spill. What’s that?”

“Well, this is gonna sound _really _bad, but I promise you, it’s got some historical basis.” The blonde began, and Raihan burst out laughing.

“No way, that sounds _amazing_.” He shook his head. “Lemme guess, you’re gonna pull out a freakin’ _ritual knife—_holy shit. You are.”

“I am.” Cynthia laughed sheepishly, and they came to a stop as she pulled out a smaller Ziplock bag from the evidence bag. Raihan’s eyes widened at the tiny dagger inside the sealed bag—at the golden handle that was not unlike Arceus’s golden ring that crowned its form. “This, uh… we picked it up from this site, too. It’s made of some kind of steel that hasn’t rusted in the hundreds of years it’s been buried underground. Isn’t that amazing?”

“What, it’s never rusted?” Raihan breathed, and Cynthia nodded eagerly, handing him the bag that had the blade in it. He held it gingerly, eyes wide in awe, as he turned the bag over in his hands. “Wow. That sounds… impossible.”

“It really does.” The blonde replied excitedly, “We believe it has some ties to Arceus, based on the design on its hilt.”

“Yeah.” Raihan said, scowling as he looked at the hilt, and remembered the God Pokémon he made a deal with. “This is its work, alright.” He mumbled, and Cynthia cocked her head at him. “Nah, it’s nothing. So, you’re gonna stab me with this?”

“W-well,” she laughed nervously, “You said you were pretty resistant to injury yourself. Like, it takes a lot to hurt you, right? I figured using normal stuff might not work.” Gently, she took the blade back from Raihan, and looked it over reverently. “And another thing… you see, we found some texts in this site that reference this dagger. Apparently, this was made by someone who had Arceus’s legendary blessing.” 

Raihan blinked at her. 

“Well, it’s not outright stated he had a _legendary blessing,_ but he’s mentioned in his memoirs that he’s received messages from Arceus itself.” Cynthia explained, and Raihan hummed as he watched her pack the dagger back into its bag.

“Do you think Arceus even gives legendary blessings?” He asked, “If that’s the case, wouldn’t _all _secondary typed people just be people with Arceus’s legendary blessing?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Cynthia shook her head, and they continued to walk on. “Unlike you, the man who made this dagger—he never said what his name was—never had powers. He just received messages, and that was it. He was very different from the secondary typed people he lived with here.” She hummed thoughtfully. “He wrote that Arceus told him, ‘should he need guidance, to come see it’, and had him make the knife.” Cynthia’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “I think it’s a case of a human entering the Lake of Life. Well, someone with the right legendary blessing, but you get the idea.” 

“Huh.” Raihan said slowly, and looked at the knife. “So… you think that this’ll summon Arceus? In there?”

Cynthia nodded. “It’s a theory of mine.” She said, “Why else would you need to come back here? Why did coming here have such an intense effect on Steven and Cobalt? And your friends in Galar?” She gave him a knowing grin, and Raihan gaped at her. “Raihan, I’m an archaeologist. You’d be surprised how far I can go with very little evidence.”

They came to a stop at the gate to the Lake of Life, and she cocked her head at him, humming. 

“You’re really amazing, you know that?” Raihan said faintly, and Cynthia beamed at him. 

“In return, I want you to tell me all about it when you get back.” She dug through her pockets for a pair of nitrile gloves. Cynthia handed the bagged dagger to Raihan for a moment as she pulled her gloves on, and the younger trainer looked at the dagger nervously. “Don’t worry, it’s really sharp. Sliced a hair in half when I lowered the hair down on the blade.”

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be reassuring or not.” Raihan laughed weakly, and she gave him a grin.

“Don’t worry. I’m just gonna give you a little papercut on your finger.”

Raihan raised an eyebrow at her. “And here, I thought you’d do the thing they do in movies, where they cut people across their palm, or something.”

“That causes more damage than a dinky little paper cut, you know.” Cynthia blew him a raspberry. “I’m not stupid.” 

Raihan burst out laughing at that as Cynthia delicately took the dagger out of its bag. She held its shining blade up to catch the reflection of the sun in it, and she sighed dreamily. “There. On the blade: _offer the ruby drops of life_, it says.” 

“That’s messed up.” Raihan muttered, shaking his head. “Though I guess not as messed up as my ancestors colonising the world.” 

“Thus, Galarian became the lingua franca of the world.” Cynthia hummed, and she grinned at him knowingly. “Now I _really _wanna see the Hammerlocke Vault.” 

“You’ll see it when I get married.” Raihan snickered. “I’ll invite you to the wedding.”

“Yes!” She hissed, and Raihan handed her the bagged dagger when she held her hand out for it. “Okay, just a little paper cut on the thumb should do the trick, right? Steven qualified for entry by just biting his tongue.”

“You can cut me anywhere but my face.” Raihan grinned, holding his hand out to her, and Cynthia rolled her eyes, huffing fondly. “I mean it. The husband-to-be’s not gonna be happy if you messed me up.”

“Very funny.” Cynthia drawled, but she was grinning. She took his hand gently, and drew a sharp breath as she held the blade up to Raihan’s thumb. “Take care in there, Raihan.” She said softly, and Raihan nodded at her determinedly. “Here we go.”

Raihan winced as she smoothly ran the knife over his thumb, and just as promised—all she made was a shallow cut across his thumb. He looked at it witheringly, but they jumped when the stones began to glow. 

“They’re glowing again.” Cynthia breathed, and Raihan nodded, patting her arm heavily. 

“It’s gonna let me in.” He said, and he turned to look at her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. In the Lake of Life, time moves differently than out here, so I can’t tell how long I’ll actually be gone. I still have a lot of questions for… y’know.”

“Right.” Cynthia nodded. “I’ll keep watch out here.” She said, and Raihan gave her a small wave, before striding through the gate. Cynthia sighed to herself, her shoulders slumping as she stood back away from the gate—

When a cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth, and her eyes widened as she struggled—but her world went black, the dagger falling from her hand as she crumpled to the ground.

* * *

Raihan winced as the light enveloped him, and he looked up to realise he was in the middle island, right in front of the Arceus-shaped tree. He gasped softly, and he nodded to himself as he ran up to the tree, banging his fist against it.

“Arceus!” He called, “Arceus, get over here!”

He winced when a splinter stabbed into his cut, and he hissed, shaking his head in frustration as his team popped out of their Pokéballs on his harness.

“Arceus, please!” Gooms called, pressing her paws against the tree trunk.

“Get down here!” Darude snarled, smacking the tree with his tail.

“_Do not cause harm to the Exalted’s earthly form!_” Janus squawked, as Gladiolus sighed, holding him back.

“Janus, please.” He said, but looked up at the tree. “Arceus…”

“Please!” Gibble cried, latching onto the tree trunk. “Please come down!”

“Guys,” Raihan gasped, and he turned to look at Janus, lighting up. “Janus.” 

“Raihan, dragonborn.” Janus pulled himself together, giving him a low bow, and Raihan laughed, shaking his head as he pulled the Altaria in close for a hug. Janus stiffened up, but he sighed fondly, hugging Raihan back. “Oh, this wonderful chance to speak with you… I must admit, I am very, very happy to have it.”

“Me too.” Raihan pulled away from his Altaria, grinning. “So, I was told Arceus itself sent you to take care of me.”

“Indeed.” Janus nodded. “It was a mission from the Exalted, that I find you, serve you, and bring you here, back home to meet it.”

“Home.” Raihan hummed, and he shook his head. “I guess it is, huh?”

“Yes.” Janus replied. “Hundreds of years ago, the Exalted granted its gift to humanity in this very area, as thanks for caring for it.” Raihan blinked at him in surprise, as his team stopped banging on the tree to look at Janus, too. “Its power radiated from its blood, seeping into the blood of the humans that once cared for it, until they, too, became alike in Its image—closer to the magnificent power of Pokémon, than humanity.”

“Secondary typing.” Raihan breathed, and Janus nodded again.

“From then on, the Exalted’s love was embedded deep into what made humans what they are,” Janus said, and Raihan cocked his head. “The very makeup that modern science is able to manipulate.”

“DNA.” Raihan ventured, and Janus cocked his head.

“I am not sure.” He said, “But this gift, and how deeply rooted it was in humanity, allowed it to be passed on, generation after generation… until a terrible time, when Its children were persecuted for the Exalted’s gift.”

“The Lake of Life became a place of refuge.” Gladiolus said, and Janus looked at him. “You told us this.”

“Yes.” Janus replied. “The Lake of Life can open anywhere in the world, so long as a child of the Exalted needed it.” He gestured at the lake behind them. “So long as there is a body of water large enough, an injured child of Arceus could save themselves, and find refuge here.”

“Wait.” Raihan blinked. “You’re telling me… that the Lake of Life is a _portal?_”

“To anywhere in the world, yes.” Janus nodded. “It can take you even to Galar, if you wish.”

Raihan headed out towards the lake, awed.

_He could go home to Leon this way. _

“Of course, the conditions to enter remain the same.” Janus said, “And how strong your wish to come home is.” 

Raihan stopped. “Wait.” He said shakily, as he came to the shore. “Does that mean… I can go to where King is, too?”

“Provided he is near a large enough body of water, but again, yes.” Janus smiled. “I cannot stand by and watch as the Exalted’s child continues to suffer, as well. What he has done to save your life will stay with me forever, and I wish to repay him with kindness.”

“Me too.” Gladiolus agreed, and Darude and Gooms nodded eagerly.

“Me too!” They chirped, as Gibble cocked her head at them. 

“King?” She asked, and Raihan nodded, chuckling as he picked her up into his arms.

“Yeah. Remember when you and Cynthia saved us from the Team Rocket ship?” The little Gible nodded. “There was someone else there who helped me escape. We’re gonna go back there to save him.”

“Oh!” Gibble’s eyes widened. “Yeah! We should!”

_Raihan, dragonborn._

The air around them shuddered, and Gibble clung onto Raihan as his team ducked down involuntarily, bowed by the sudden pressure exerted on them as the God Pokémon began to descend upon them. Raihan held onto Gibble protectively as he looked around at his team desperately. 

“Guys,” He breathed, and he wondered why he wasn’t as heavily affected by Arceus’s presence as the dragons around him. His eyes widened—was it _because _he wasn’t a dragon?

Raihan looked up as a thick fog surrounded them, and he shook his head.

“No! Not in the Hall of Origin! Arceus, we’re talking here—”

Gooms’s sudden scream suddenly made Raihan’s blood go cold, and the mist dissipated somewhat, revealing to Raihan that his Goodra was caught in a poacher’s net. His eyes widened, as he stumbled back in shock.

“Raihan!” Darude screamed, and Raihan gasped when his Flygon darted out in front of him—only to get hit with another poacher’s net. Raihan stumbled back further, hugging Gibble close to himself as Gladiolus and Janus hurried in front of him protectively, as Darude thrashed on the ground, thankfully immune to the paralysing shock that came with the net. Next to him, Gooms was completely still, and Raihan grit his teeth as he strained to see into the mist as Janus flapped his wings to dissipate Arceus’s mist completely. 

Raihan’s heart lodged itself into his throat as Matori came into view, a vicious smirk on her face. 

“Matori.” He breathed.

“You know, you live streaming and making PokéTube videos on your Gym battles makes this _really _easy.” She smirked, and threw out a Pokéball. “Weavile, use Icy Wind!”

“Gladiolus, Light Screen!” Raihan ordered, “Janus, Moonblast!” His dragons quickly obeyed, Gladiolus throwing up a shield in front of them. 

Matori laughed at him viciously as her Weavile smirked, shooting a blast of ice towards them—when she deployed another Pokémon. 

“Lycanroc, Stone Edge!” she roared, and Raihan’s eyes widened in horror as a pillar of rock came up behind the Light Screen, slamming right into Janus, who was trapped in the middle of rearing up for the Moonblast. His belly had been exposed, and the Altaria’s eyes widened as it slammed into his gut. 

“Janus!” Gladiolus gasped, and growled as the Altaria dropped to the ground, the wind knocked out of his lungs as he twitched helplessly. 

“Flash Cannon!” Raihan ordered, and Gladiolus shot a beam of light forward, hitting both the Lycanroc and the Weavile in one go—

“Hawlucha, Flying Press!” 

Raihan’s head shot up to look above him, and he shouted in shock when a Hawlucha came falling down on him. 

“G-Gibble, Dragon Claw!” He called, and the Gible shot out of his arms to meet the Hawlucha halfway. She knocked it back, landing in front of Raihan to stand next to Gladiolus.

Raihan righted himself, growling in frustration as he stared Matori down. She leered at him as the Hawlucha shot back to stand in front of her, unmindful of the two fainted Pokémon. 

“How in the _hell _did you get in here?”

Matori raised her arm, and shoved her sleeve up, showing him the slash across her forearm.

“Miss Cynthia was kind enough to let me _borrow _that ceremonial knife.” She leered. “Don’t worry, this time, I used the right chloroform dosing. I’m not some stumbling idiot like the people on the plane.”

Raihan’s expression fell, and he scowled at her.

“If you’re not an idiot, then don’t you know a fuckin’ _papercut _is enough?” He drawled, and she blinked at him. Raihan shook his head. “So that’s it, then? You snitch, you’re selling out your fellow secondary typed people to Team Rocket?”

“Me?” Matori scoffed, “I do not have a secondary type, Dragon-01. Surely Steel-01 told you that much?” 

Raihan’s eyes widened in realisation as Matori rolled her sleeve up further, showing him a reddened dot in the crook of her elbow. “_No._”

“You have your precious _friend _to thank for this.” She leered, “It’s _laughably _easy to follow you, you know? Location Services is _such _a helpful feature on the Rotom Phone, isn’t it?”

Raihan grit his teeth, his hands balling into fists. 

“Pluton was right that you have not only an awful haircut, but the cheapest of tactics.” Gladiolus said, and Matori seemed shocked to hear him speak. “Raihan, now!”

“Right—use Stone Edge!” 

Matori’s eyes widened when her Hawlucha had no time to react, and a stone pillar shot up from the ground, knocking it into the air and causing it to faint. 

“_Useless!_” She hissed, grabbing something in her pocket. Raihan tensed up nervously, but then much to his shock, she threw out another ball that deployed into a poacher’s net. Gladiolus pushed Gibble back to take the net, and he shuddered as he dropped to the ground.

“Gladiolus!” Raihan gasped, and he glowered at Matori as she put her three Pokémon into their Pokéballs, and brought out a Druddigon, smirking at him. “That’s it, then? You can’t beat my ass in a fair fight, so you’re gonna turn to dirty tactics?”

“In the _real _world, Dragon-01, what matters is that you win, not _how._” She smirked, and held her hand out to her Druddigon. Raihan realised it’d been carrying something, and his eyes widened to see it was a net-deploying gun. “And I heard something _very _interesting just now.”

“No.” Raihan hissed, “Matori, don’t mess with what you can’t—”

“_Don’t tell me what to do, blood bag._” She snarled, and fired the gun. Raihan squeezed his eyes shut, only to realise that she had not fired at him.

An ear-splitting _screech _tore through the air, and Raihan’s eyes widened as thunder began to clap, the wind picking up into a vicious, screaming howl. He opened his eyes, and he saw Matori laughing darkly up at something above his head. His heart shot to his throat, and he whirled around to see that a massive poacher’s net was wrapped around the tree—Arceus’s earthly form, Janus had said. 

“Arceus!” He gasped, and he could see the giant amorphous mass that was the God Pokémon thrashing about as a translucent spirit above the tree. “Oh, _fuck!_”

“Arceus, the God Pokémon.” Matori said, awed as she cranked up the strength in the electric charge in the net. “Oh, I came here for a blood bag, and found _so much more._”

“Exalted!” Janus wheezed, and Raihan hurried to his Altaria’s side, gently hushing him as Gibble hurried up to him, too, looking ready to cry. “I—oh, Exalted—”

“Janus, tell me how to help it!” Raihan yelled, and Janus looked around, panicked.

“It was—it had Plates. The Exalted grew more powerful with Plates, in its corporeal form.”

“Plates?” Raihan shook his head. “Okay, we gotta—”

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Matori cackled, “Druddigon, restrain Dragon-01!”

“No!” Gibble screamed, and she charged at the Druddigon, glowing with purple draconic rage. Raihan’s eyes widened. 

“Gibble! You have to relax, you can’t use Outrage like this!” Raihan gasped, but Janus held him back. “Janus—”

“I may sing,” he said, and looked at Raihan knowingly. “If the traitor will not fight fair, neither will we.”

“Thanks, Janus.” Raihan said, strained, as he stood up straighter. “Okay, Gibble! Let loose!” 

“Use Dragon Claw and exterminate that little pest!” Matori snapped. The Druddigon swung around as Gibble darted around him, and Raihan nodded eagerly.

“_Now!_” He called, and Gibble slammed into the Druddigon, throwing it back. It bumped into Matori, who let out a scream of frustration as she shoved the fainted Pokémon aside, releasing a Delibird.

“Use Ice Punch!” 

Gibble stumbled, looking confused, and Raihan turned to Janus.

“Dragon’s Lullaby, go!” 

Janus let out a crystal-clear song, and Gibble jerked awake, darting aside as the Delibird came hurtling towards her. 

“Dodge it with Dig!” Raihan called, and Gibble disappeared underground before the Delibird’s attack landed. Raihan grinned, but then he realised that the Delibird _kept going,_ making a beeline for Janus. “Janus!” He gasped, and tried to pull the Altaria aside—but he cursed to himself, when he remembered his draconic strength was gone.

“Back, dragonborn!” Janus hissed, pushing Raihan away as he took the hit. He shuddered, and dropped to the ground, fainted. Raihan clicked his tongue, shaking his head as Gibble popped out of the ground, her eyes wide. 

“Janus!” She gasped. 

“Gibble, use Sandstorm!” Raihan called, and the Gible nodded, summoning a sandstorm that she disappeared in.

“Use Hail!” Matori cackled, and Raihan grit his teeth.

“Take this one chance, Gibble!” He called, “Use Dragon Claw!”

Gibble shot through the sand as it disappeared, giving way to ice, as the Delibird had to hold still to summon hail. Its eyes widened as she slammed into it, throwing it back against Arceus’s tree, and it was shocked by the net, making it faint instantly. Gibble hurried back to Raihan, jumping into his arms as she clung to him. 

“We have to stop Matori!” She said, “Daddy, what do—where are we gonna get a Plate?”

Raihan looked at Matori, and thought about why she could enter.

She’d been transfused King’s blood. Raihan and King’s blood could change a human’s typing—

“Just like a Plate.” Raihan breathed, and he looked up at Arceus. “Arceus, bite me!” 

“_Daddy?_” Gibble gasped, as Raihan put her down. 

“Take my blood! Become a dragon!” He screamed, and the amorphous mass dipped towards them, submerging Raihan’s world into thick, cloying mist.

* * *

_Little Gible._

Gibble jumped when she heard the voice of the world speak to her soul, and she looked around her misty surroundings. “Arceus?” She asked weakly, and the voice laughed softly.

_Yes, child._ It said. _The way I am right now, I am unable to do anything—to save myself, nor to save your trainer. _

Gibble gasped, and she shook her head. “No! That can’t—you can’t! You have to save Daddy!” 

_I cannot._

Gibble’s eyes filled with tears. “But…”

** _But you can._ **

The little Gible gasped softly. “But… I’m just… I’m still so small. If I was bigger…”

_If you wish for it with all your heart, child, then it will come to be._ The voice of the world wrapped around her like a comforting embrace—like Raihan’s embrace, and Gibble sniffled. _If you love Raihan, then I will grant you the power to protect him._

“I do.” She said, “I love Daddy… with all my heart. I love everyone—I _want to protect them!_”

_Then your wish, I thereby grant, little one._

* * *

Raihan winced as he felt his wound on his thumb suddenly shudder, and he realised that the splinter had come out, and it was bleeding freely again. He opened his eyes to see that Arceus had lifted off him, and that the mist above his head had taken on a faint violet hue. 

“Dragon-type!” Raihan breathed, and he looked down to see it wrap around Gibble. His eyes widened. “G-Gibble!” 

She was enveloped with light, and Raihan gasped as little Gibble’s body grew bigger, and bigger.

“Oh, shit!” He gasped, lighting up in delight. “Gibble, you—”

Arceus’s mist disappeared from around Gibble, and a much taller Pokémon stood in her place. She roared powerfully at Matori, who jerked in surprise, whirling around to gape at her, and Raihan nodded.

“Use Dragon Claw and cut that rope!” Raihan called, as Matori scrambled to get a poacher’s net from her pocket, but Gibble was much, _much _faster now. 

She jumped high into the air, slicing the net’s rope with a Dragon Claw, and whirled around to glare at Matori.

“A _Gabite?_” She gasped, looking at Raihan “You had—you had a Gible—”

“And Pokémon _evolve,_ Matori.” Raihan snapped, “Gibble, restrain her.”

Gibble charged at Matori, and pinned her down to the ground between her claws, snarling angrily. Raihan hurried up to her, and dug through her pockets, pulling out the cloth she’d used to knock Cynthia out. He looked at her witheringly, and pressed it over her face. 

“That’s not going to work.” She leered at him. “I’m Steel-type now. I’m immune to this.”

_But not to Sing._ Arceus’s voice said, and Raihan jumped when he heard Janus’s voice singing again. Matori struggled in Gibble’s hold, but she held fast, growling threateningly as Matori began to grow weaker, until she fell asleep. Raihan turned around, and he lit up when he saw that Janus was awake, nodding to himself before he turned and began setting Raihan’s team free. Raihan heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Gooms and Gladiolus were awake, too, as Janus cut Darude free first to help him with freeing the other two. 

“Daddy!” Gibble cheered, and Raihan turned to see his Gabite hurrying up to him. “I’m so much bigger now!”

“You are, baby!” Raihan laughed delightedly, catching her in his arms as he held her close, sighing contentedly as she leaned into his hug. “Oh, you’re so big now. You’re gonna be a beautiful Garchomp in no time.”

“Raihan, I think it would be wise to tie Matori up.” Gladiolus said, and Raihan nodded, pulling away from Gibble. He accepted the ruined nets from Gladiolus, and got to work tying Matori up, while Gibble pulled Gooms up onto her feet. 

“Oh!” Gooms gasped, “Is that you, Gibble?” 

“Yeah!” Gibble cheered, and the two dragons cheered happily, and they quickly pulled each other into a hug. “I’m a big girl now!”

“Yes, you are!” Gooms cooed, and Raihan smiled fondly at his girls as they pulled apart, Gooms holding onto Gibble’s new claws. “Oh, look at you!” 

_Dragonborn._ Arceus’s voice rang through their bodies, and they all jolted, looking up at the tree, which was beginning to bend down towards them. _Please… come… see me… in the Hall of Origin._

It sounded winded, _exhausted, _almost, and Raihan’s expression fell. They all turned to see that a large knot in the middle of the tree had widened, opening into an entrance that led to a long set of stairs. Raihan swallowed nervously, and he looked at his team.

“Something’s wrong with it.” He said, and Janus nodded. 

“The Exalted’s voice… sounds tired. Perhaps the battle with Matori and awakening us took a toll on it.”

“It woke you up?” Raihan breathed, and Janus, Gooms, and Gladiolus nodded. “I… I see.”

He looked around, and plucked a large leaf off a nearby bush, rolling it up into a cone. He hurried to the lake, and scooped up some water into it.

“Do you think that’ll work?” Darude asked, and Raihan shrugged.

“Can’t hurt to try.” He looked at Matori witheringly, and he shook his head. “Could someone dip her arm into the water, by the way? She’s bleeding through her clothes.”

“I can.” Darude smirked viciously. “Can I keep dunking her into the water?”

“Darude,” Raihan laughed, shaking his head. “She’ll wake up.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Janus said viciously, and Raihan blinked at him. “Please, Raihan. Allow us this one thing, for King’s Pluton, Leonidas, and Jove.”

“King’s Pokémon.” Raihan breathed, and the dragons—save Gibble—nodded. 

“They said they had someone they missed, too.” Gooms said. “They have another friend out there in the world somewhere. His name is [Leviathan—he’s a Gyarados](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151412). They miss him.”

“We want them to see him again, too.” Gladiolus nodded. “So we’ll start with… well…”

“Waterboarding the hell out of Matori until she squeals.” Darude leered.

“_Interrogating her thoroughly._” Gooms coughed delicately, when Gibble cocked her head at her. Darude blew her a raspberry, and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“Well, as long as you don’t maim her, I guess…” Raihan hummed. “She _is _steel-type right now, so I guess she’ll be able to survive a beating…”

“_Yesss._” Darude hissed, and quickly grabbed Matori by her arms. “Gooms, let’s go!” 

“Let’s go, Gibble!” Gooms cheered, taking the Gabite’s claw in her paw, and the two girls hurried after Darude, picking up Matori by her feet. Raihan shook his head, and turned to Janus and Gladiolus. 

“Please make sure the kids don’t kill her.” He said, and Gladiolus and Janus gave him elegant bows. Raihan smiled at them, and turned back to the tree. “Right, here we go…”

“Raihan,” Janus said, and Raihan stopped at the doorway to the staircase. He looked at his Altaria over his shoulder, and his expression softened at the pleading look in his eyes. “Please… save the Exalted. Its plans may be cruel, but… with the wishes It’s granted—Gladiolus’s stalwart heart, Gibble’s evolution, I think… somewhere in Its heart, It cares. For Its beloved creations.”

Raihan looked down at the ground. 

“I’ll… I’ll try my best.” He said, and strode onward towards the Hall of Origin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **N I C E**
> 
> hopefully the leviathan hint should help people 100% confirm who king is now. and who his lover is. and what happened to him in the ten years king was gone.......
> 
> _YEAH._


	70. The Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So. It’s been a month.”

The Hall of Origin was… _emptier_ than Raihan remembered it. There was no looming eminence in the heavens, no overwhelming presence suffocating him—

Just a small heap of muted brown and violet lying in the middle of the glassy floor, breathing weakly. 

Raihan’s eyes widened, and he hurried over to it. He dropped to his knees, sighing sadly as he touched it with his free hand gently. His hand sank into the mass, but he could touch it—it reminded him of how Gooms felt, except it felt more like air, than her liquid goo. Slowly, Raihan turned it over, and he shook his head when he saw Arceus’s eyes shut, its body heaving up and down with shallow breaths.

“What happened to you?” Raihan asked gently.

_I am… being poisoned… by the **filth… **on my island._ Arceus panted, and Raihan’s eyes widened. Arceus laughed dryly, shaking its head as it rolled over weakly in Raihan’s hold, until it was cradled in his arms, much like a small Pokémon would. 

_Worry not, dragonborn. I am getting better. Your Flygon has taken to gleefully dipping her into the lake, and it is washing her of the blessing she has stolen._

Raihan let out a surprised bark of laughter at that, and Arceus chuckled along with him. Like this, Raihan thought, Arceus seemed closer to the Pokémon it created. 

_Ah, but thank you… I need that blood you bring._

“Blood?” Raihan blinked, and he looked down at the leaf he was carrying. He gasped when he realised the water was _red,_ but luckily, he didn’t drop it. “Is this—is—”

_The Lake of Life sprang forth from my blood, dragonborn._ Arceus chuckled. _It returns to its roots when near me. _

“I-I see…” Raihan mumbled, and held the leaf up to where he guessed Arceus’s mouth would be. The God Pokémon sighed softly, quietly drinking up the water, and Raihan couldn’t help but smile as it almost meekly lapped up the last few drops off the leaf. “I’m not gonna ask if that tastes good or not.”

_It would be prudent not to, yes._ Arceus got up onto its feet, and much to Raihan’s surprise, remained as small as it had been when Raihan arrived. It sat down with a sigh, settling down next to Raihan, and it gestured for him to sit down. _Please, make yourself comfortable._

“Uh, sure…” Raihan sat down properly next to Arceus, and the two of them looked down at the Lake of Life below. “So. It’s been a month.”

_Yes. An eye-opening month, for the both of us._

Raihan turned to blink at it, as it huffed softly. 

_I have overestimated the glory of my blessing._ Arceus murmured. _The heartbreak it causes… the avarice it inspires._ It closed its eyes, and much to Raihan’s surprise, leaned against him. _My love… to others, is a source of greed. _

“It’s… not _all _bad.” Raihan muttered, and Arceus hummed. “There’s some good points to it, too. Guess I was just expecting too much.”

_A long time ago, I gifted humanity with this blessing as gratitude._ Arceus said. _They lived in dangerous times, then. Wars, famine, pestilence… persecution. _It sighed, shutting its eyes. _So I blessed them with a means to protect themselves. Their Pokémon companions were sometimes not enough. _

“You made us… like this, because we were in danger?”

_Yes. _Arceus replied. _The strength of your blood… of my other children’s blood, was to keep them safe. The rest of the characteristics that followed… only ensued due to the laws of nature. _

“The laws of nature…” Raihan hummed. “Like… me getting ruts?”

_Yes. Dragons are living beings, more than elements. Unlike my children of stone, the dragonborn are closer to dragons. Physically powerful, charismatic, influential… yet lived a life similar to that of Pokémon. _Arceus pressed its paw to Raihan’s hand. _The stoneborn are closer to inanimate objects—the stones of the earth. They are resistant to pain, but when a fault line appears, they crack… on land, they are unmoving and stalwart, but in the sea, they sink to its depths. _

“Steven.” Raihan breathed. 

_I have caused him much harm. Yet he has brought some of it to himself on his own. _Arceus sighed. _Though, perhaps, it has been my overzealous protection that had ultimately caused such an undoing…_

“Hubris, huh.” Raihan hummed, and the God Pokémon laughed wryly. 

_Gods, too, are not infallible. _Arceus chuckled. _It is, indeed, very likely hubris. How I never learn… centuries ago, I was humbled by injury, and now, I require it once again._

“Janus said you woke him and the rest of the team up.”

_Yes. While I cannot do much physically down at the Lake of Life, I am able to awaken their souls, revive them to stand once again. However, it takes quite the toll on me. _Arceus replied. _With the woman harming my corporeal form, it was much more difficult, as well._

“You got hurt by that?”

_Indeed. I _am _a Pokémon, after all. _

Raihan hummed, leaning against Arceus, too, and the God Pokémon laughed softly. 

_Look at us, with this foolish bet made between foolish beings. _It sighed. _I have lost. _

“No, I lost too.” Raihan smiled slightly. “To think we both lost a bet we made… is kinda stupid, isn’t it?”

_Truly. _Arceus said warmly. _Shall I return my gift to you, then?_

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “I kinda missed it.” He huffed, and thought back to what Leon said, smiling. “But… I think what’s important is that we strike a balance.”

_A balance. _Arceus echoed. 

“Yeah. Most of us aren’t in danger anymore, so you can tone it down a little.” Raihan smiled. “But not so much that it’s totally gone—we’ll figure out the rest.”

_Yes, that seems reasonable._ Arceus hummed. _My children are considerably much safer now. And held in higher regard, as well. _

Arceus chuckled softly, and much to Raihan’s surprise, snuggled against him.

_Dragonborn, forgive me._ It said softly, as warmth seeped into Raihan’s body, and he felt the shackles on his soul fall apart. The dragon in his blood roared powerfully as it stretched its wings, soaring into the sky, and Raihan couldn’t help but smile as his eyes thinned into slits, and he reached down to hold Arceus’s paw.

“I… wanna say sorry, too.” He said. Arceus hummed at that, and nodded. 

_Now then, as promised. Your wish._

“I think…” Raihan laughed softly. “I think I’ll ask you for a rain check on that.” He said, and it cocked its head. “When I really need it, I mean.”

_Ah._ Arceus sat up straighter. _Will you save my suffering steelborn?_

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded. “Arceus, could you give me any piece of information about him? Anything at all. Where he is—what… what his name is.”

_Ah, he has not given you his name, has he._ Arceus lowered its head. _Very well. His name is Lysandre. He was a man from Kalos, but he has disappeared from my view for years, after he fulfilled his destiny. _

“Lysandre?” Raihan said quietly. Why did that name sound familiar?

_When I saw him again through your eyes, I was pleased to learn he still loves my gift. _It chuckled darkly, shaking its head. _Though Zygarde would not be very happy with this development._

“Zygarde?” Raihan echoed, and Arceus shook its head.

_I cannot tell where he is. He had been lost to me for so long, I had thought he was dead, but Yveltal has reported that he has not crossed into the beyond. _Arceus sighed. _I see great hardship in your future, Raihan. May your heart guide you through them successfully. _

“I… okay. I’ll look him up later, I guess.” Raihan sighed. “Nice to have a name, at least…” He mumbled, and Arceus nodded at him once. “I have another question, by the way.”

_Yes?_

“Why me?” Raihan asked, and Arceus hummed, looking up at the sky. 

_Because dragons have always been the ones moving the world. Changing it._

Raihan looked up at the sky, too, and saw Giratina—now in a more snake-like form—forming infinity-loops in the darkness of the void. Rayquaza drifted along space in a more sedate pace, and Raihan took a long, deep breath.

_The dragons of space, time, and chaos. The dragon of the sky. Of order. Of truth and ideals. _Arceus said. _The dragons from beyond our world, such as the dragon in your homeland._

“Eternatus.” Raihan nodded, and Arceus nodded, too. 

_Dragons have shaped the world, so I deemed it fit that a dragonborn would shape the future of my children. _It looked at him. _Your journey here to this land was no accident. Everything was by my design._

“Not everything.” Raihan said, and it cocked its head at him. “My arrival at the Lake of Life was probably all your doing. But _I _made my own decision to come to Sinnoh. To become a man worthy of Leon’s love. That was for me. This,” He gestured between them, “Is for everyone else you and I love.”

_I see._ Arceus said warmly, and Raihan gave it a grin.

“Have you toned my friends’ secondary typings down?”

_I have. For all of my children with my blessing, I have taken away most of their woes._ Arceus replied. _They should be… mere inconveniences, now. I have also returned the child’s gift to her—for she truly treasures it. I will ensure that it continues to bless her as she grows. _

“Thanks.” Raihan said softly, and Arceus tipped its head to him. “Another question—why did you change Gladiolus’s ability to Stalwart?” 

_Ah, because he asked me to._ Arceus replied, and Raihan’s eyes widened at it. _After I spoke with you for the first time, his most earnest wish reached my heart. _

“His… wish?”

_That he would always be able to follow you, even until the end of the world._

Raihan’s eyes filled with tears as Arceus patted his hand with its paw. 

_It was then that I began to think about you. That I was wrong about you, that perhaps… your anger was righteous, after all. For your dragons to love you so deeply…_ Arceus sighed. _So I have granted their wishes. Someday, I will grant yours._

“Yeah.” Raihan nodded, and he lit up. “One last thing.”

_Yes? _Arceus chuckled, and blinked in surprise when Raihan pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

“Let’s take a selfie together.” He said, and it cocked its head slightly. He laughed fondly, and unlocked his phone, nodding. “Yeah, no reception, I figured, but the camera seems to be working.”

_A selfie? _Arceus echoed, and Raihan stood next to the God Pokémon, slinging his arm over its neck. 

“A picture of the two of us together.” Raihan said. “Just a little keepsake.”

_A keepsake._ Arceus said fondly, as Raihan lined up the shot. _Well, the size of my form is very unflattering, I will admit. _

“Nah, you’re fine.” Raihan chuckled. “Okay, say cheese!”

_Cheese._ Arceus said sternly, staring determinedly at the phone, and Raihan took a photo, dissolving into laughter. _Why the glee, dragonborn? I have done as requested. _

“Yeah, it’s no big deal, don’t worry.” Raihan patted Arceus’s neck. “Didn’t know what I was expecting, asking you to smile.”

_Ah, cheese is to make someone smile? _Arceus asked. _The shape the mouth makes…_

“You got it.” Raihan nodded, and he smiled at the God Pokémon. “I’ll see you again soon, Arceus.” He said. “Thanks for everything.”

_Thank you, too, dragonborn. I will continue to watch over your journey._

Raihan gave it a smile, and Arceus seemed to smile back at him. Raihan turned back to the staircase, and made his way back down.

* * *

Darude tossed Matori onto the ground, scoffing as the woman coughed roughly, but still refused to speak. 

“Jeez. She’s a tough nut to crack.” Darude hissed, and Gooms held his arm, shaking her head. “What? Aren’t you mad at her?”

“Daddy asked us not to hurt her.” She said, and looked down at Matori as she caught her breath, panting heavily as she lay on her side, soaking wet, and scowling off into the distance. “And… I feel like something has changed.”

“Me too.” Gibble agreed, and Darude cocked his head at them. “For starters, the wound in her arm… doesn’t it look like it’s still bleeding?”

“Huh?” Darude blinked, and the dragons stopped to look at Matori’s arm. “You still bleeding?” He asked, poking her arm, and Gladiolus hissed at him.

“_Darude!_” He scolded, but they all jumped when Matori hissed, wincing. “Oh. Oh, dear.” Gladiolus approached her, gently turning her over, and Matori looked at him angrily. Gladiolus ignored her as Janus came over to his side, and Gladiolus held Matori steady as Janus tore her sleeve off. 

They all gasped when they saw that the cut she made across her forearm was swollen, angry red and white clotted over the cut, and Matori winced again, taking a shuddering breath as she clenched her fists. 

“Oh!” Gibble gasped, “That… that looks painful.”

“_Now _you’re so concerned about me?” Matori drawled, and Gladiolus frowned. Gibble shied away from her fearfully, and Gooms glowered at her, standing in front of the Gabite protectively. Janus rolled his eyes, and sang a little tune. The woman jolted, whirling around to glower at the Altaria, but she quickly fell asleep again.

“Ah, peace once more.” He huffed, and they all turned at the sound of footsteps behind them. 

“Daddy!” Gibble cheered, and she charged ahead of the others to tackle Raihan in a hug. Raihan laughed, withstanding the brunt of her tackle without much difficulty, and the rest of the team—save Gladiolus—hurried to him, flocking to him happily. 

Gladiolus’s eyes widened when they met Raihan’s. Tears welled up in his eyes as the familiar draconic slit was back, and he stumbled over to Raihan.

“Hey.” Raihan said softly, as he reached out to Gladiolus while the rest of his team stood aside, smiling fondly. “I’m back, Gladiolus.”

“You’re… back.” Gladiolus breathed, and meant more than just Raihan’s return as he took Raihan’s hand. Their hearts were in sync enough that Raihan understood what he meant, and Raihan nodded, gently pulling away from his Duraludon to look at his team. 

Quickly, the change dawned on them, and they all lit up.

“Dragonborn?” Janus asked, “Did you—”

“It’s back.” Raihan laughed, feeling his eyes prickle. “I’m—I’m a dragon again!”

“Oh!” His team surged forward to hug him, and Raihan held them all close, sighing happily as they all sank to the ground with contented sighs. 

“I’m so glad,” Gooms sniffled, and Raihan hummed fondly, patting her horns gently as she buried her face in his side. “You’re—you’re okay again. You’re—you’re our dragon again.”

“I’m sorry,” Raihan sighed, “I didn’t realise how much you guys liked it.”

“I’ll be honest, we really needed it.” Darude said, resting his head on top of Raihan’s with a sigh. “Especially Gibble, I bet.”

“Yeah!” Gibble nodded eagerly. “When I get angry, you can wake me up, no problem!” 

“Yeah,” Raihan nodded, “And we can finally save Lysandre.”

“Lysandre?” Gladiolus echoed, and Raihan met his gaze. 

“King. Arceus told me his real name.” He got up, nodding determinedly as his team followed suit, getting up with bright, delighted eyes. “As a dragon, I can finally save him. And we’ll definitely put a stop to Team Rocket’s secondary typing project once and for all.”

“Right,” Gladiolus nodded, and held his hand out. “We’ll be there for you, Raihan, every step of the way.”

“Yeah!” Gooms cheered, pressing her hand down on Gladiolus’s. 

“Count me in!” Darude cheered, scooting forward past Janus, who squawked in protest as he pressed his claw to their hands. 

“Me too!” Gibble cooed, tapping her claw on their joined hands, and they all looked at Janus. “Janus?” She smiled, cocking her head, and the Altaria huffed.

“You all will suffer without my song.” Janus scoffed, and rested his wing on top of their joined hands. “That would not be conducive to my mission if I were to let us fail now.”

Raihan grinned, and pressed his hand on top of his team’s. 

“And then, the Sinnohan League.” He grinned, and they all nodded. “To the Championship!”

“Champions!” They cheered, and threw their hands up into the air. Raihan laughed fondly, and he looked around at his team.

“I love you guys so much,” He said warmly, eyes thinned into draconic slits, and his dragons smiled brightly, nodding. “Let’s win it for everyone at home.”


	71. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have a lot of things I should explain.” He said, “I’m going to start… a month ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys im crying [leon finally came home to me in pokemasu](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1371812750402285569?s=20), im treating my family to starbucks (using a courier service, of course! we ain't leavin the house for coffee, no sir!) soon!!!! <strike>i actually did the same thing when wallace came home LMAO my whole family now hopes i always get my faves on pokemasu</strike>

Cynthia woke up with a groan, wincing as she held her head. 

“What’s… going on?” She mumbled, and her vision swam as she opened her eyes. Familiar, draconic eyes focused into view, and Cynthia’s eyes widened as she sat up straight, gaping at Raihan sitting next to her. “R-Raihan!” She gasped. 

He held her hand, laughing gently. 

“Finally, I’m the guy at the bedside.” He said, Cynthia smiled fondly as she nodded. “How are you feeling?”

“I think… I have a headache. I could use some painkillers, but other than that, I’m good.” Cynthia winced. “How—how about you?”

“You first.” Raihan said, “Apparently, you were knocked out by chloroform.” Cynthia blinked at him in alarm. “Matori—yeah,_ that _Matori—broke into your camp and knocked you out. She stole the Arceus dagger too.”

“_The Arceus dagger._” Cynthia gasped. “Where is it—oh, shit, I—”

“It’s with Professor Rowan.” Raihan said soothingly. “Matori dropped it on your coat after she wounded herself, and went right into the Lake of Life after me.”

“What?” Cynthia jerked in alarm. “Matori’s—she has a secondary typing?”

“Not exactly.” Raihan scratched the back of his head. “You know… do you want to come see her, first?”

“See her?” Cynthia echoed, and Raihan nodded. “Like… you _caught _her, or something?”

“Yeah.” Raihan replied. “Her wound got infected really badly, so she’s currently getting first aid treatment. We’re turning her in to the Jubilife Police Station first thing tomorrow.”

“Right.” Cynthia huffed, and got out of the cot she had been lying on. She recognised the room she was in—it was her room in her tent, and judging by the lighting outside, night had fallen. “Did you just arrive?”

“Yeah.” Raihan got up, too, and handed Cynthia her coat, smiling slightly as she shrugged it on. “You know… the Lake of Life is pretty insane.”

“Really?” The blonde smirked slightly, as they strode out of her room, and into her office, where she could see Riley sitting at her desk, reading a stack of papers she had left for him there to read through. “What happened in there?”

“It can apparently… curse the unworthy.” Raihan said, and Cynthia blinked at him in alarm as they walked out of her tent. “That’s what Janus said, at least. By the way, we’re gonna need to drop by the Pokémon Centre, too. We had a battle there.” He grinned, and thumbed at his Pokéball harness. “And… I’ve got something to show you.”

“Oh?” Cynthia stood back as Raihan took out a Pokéball from his harness, activating it. 

“C’mon, Gibble!”

Cynthia lit up as a Gabite straightened up, looking at her happily. 

“Oh!” The blonde gasped, and she rushed forward, holding Gibble’s claws in delight as she looked her over. “You’ve—you’ve evolved!” She turned to look at Raihan, positively _radiant._ “She’s a big girl now!” 

“Yeah!” Raihan nodded eagerly, and he took one of Gibble’s claws from Cynthia, the two trainers holding her gently as they stood together, smiling fondly. “Won’t be long until she’s a Garchomp, I said.”

“Yeah, it really won’t be long now.” Cynthia nodded, and pressed a kiss to Gibble’s snout. “Oh, you can dance with Raihan now, isn’t that great?”

“Gab!” Gibble cheered, jumping up and down, and Raihan laughed, nodding as he gently hushed her, calming her down. 

“I’ll let you choose the Seal you like best.” He said, and she nodded eagerly. “For now, you should get back into your ball. I know you’re tired from the battle earlier, so get plenty of rest.”

Gibble nodded, and she lowered her head demurely as Raihan put her into her Pokéball. The two trainers grinned at each other, and Cynthia huffed.

“That serotonin rush was enough to get rid of my headache,” she said, ushering Raihan on, and the younger trainer laughed softly. “C’mon. Let’s see how Matori’s doing.”

They headed into the medic’s tent, and the young man there gave Cynthia a little nod, before turning back to his clipboard. The two trainers approached the lone occupied cot where Matori had been put—now under actual anaesthetics, rather than Janus’s Sing—and Raihan frowned at the sight of her. 

She’d been changed out of her soaked, bloodied clothes, and put into a spare shirt and jogging pants they got from the on-site Lost and Found box. Her wounds were all cleaned up and bandaged, but she was hooked to a fluid bag, which was slowly, steadily dripping liquid into her arm. Raihan winced, remembering the sight of Matori’s transfusion wounds, and he turned away as Cynthia moved closer, hissing sympathetically at the sight of the unconscious woman in the medic’s cot.

“Oh, Arceus. What the hell did you guys do to this lady?” She asked, and Raihan gestured at his Pokéball harness. “Oh, of course, your team did that, huh.”

“They did it while I was talking to Arceus.” Raihan said, and Cynthia’s eyes widened. He gave her a withering grin. “It’s time I told everyone the truth, I think. I’ll hook Leon up to the call, too.”

Cynthia nodded. “I’ll give the Stones a heads-up. 9 PM?” 

“Yeah,” Raihan peered at his phone, smiling gently at the sight of Leon’s smile. “I’ll see you then.”

* * *

“_Ooh, a conference call. This is just like work, isn’t it?_” Leon laughed fondly, and Raihan laughed too, nodding as he set up the seats he, Rowan, and Cynthia would be using. Instead of his room in the large tent, Raihan was outside in Cynthia’s office, Leon projected onto the white wall of the tent with a projector they borrowed from Professor Rowan, who had hurried over after a lecture he had in Oreburgh. 

“Yeah, a little.” Raihan grinned. “Too bad you can’t just fly over here, or something.”

“_Don’t give me any ideas._” Leon chuckled. 

“You know, we can bully Steven into flying you over.” Cynthia said, and Raihan turned to see her peeking into the tent, smiling sweetly. “Hey.” She greeted, striding into her office, and Leon lit up. 

“_Oh! Miss Cynthia! It’s been a while._”

“Please, just Cynthia will do.” The blonde giggled. “It’s good to see you too, Leon. It’s been ages.”

“_It really has._” Leon said warmly. “_I haven’t had the chance to thank you yet, by the way._”

“Oh?” Cynthia cocked her head as she settled down in her seat. 

“_Yeah._” Leon nodded. “_Thank you so much for all you’ve done for Raihan while he’s there in Sinnoh. I knew he was in good hands, but I’m just… really glad it was you._”

“He’s been a wonderful friend.” Cynthia smiled. “Our time together has been nothing but a delight.”

“_I’m glad._” Leon chuckled. “_And… thank you on behalf of me, too. I’ve… never been one close to the other champions, but thank you, for being the one to bridge that gap. All those years ago…_”

“Oh, Leon.” Cynthia sighed fondly. “I’m just glad you’re safe now, too. There wasn’t much I could do back then, and I’m sorry it took so long.”

Raihan smiled warmly, and poured himself, Rowan, and Cynthia a mug each of hot cocoa. 

“_I’d like to get in touch with everyone again, someday._” Leon sighed. 

“You can invite us all to your wedding.” She winked, and Leon let out a bark of surprised laughter. “Yeah, I know about you and Raihan here, it wasn’t like he was being _careful_ about it in my mansion.” She laughed, and Raihan’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “But don’t worry—your secret’s safe with me.”

“_Yeah, I know._” Leon said warmly. “_Oh?_”

An incoming call rang, and Cynthia nodded. 

“That’d be the Stones.” She said, and Raihan patched the call through on his phone, settling down next to Cynthia. Professor Rowan peered into the tent, and Cynthia looked at him over her shoulder, beckoning him closer. He nodded, moving forward to sit down at Raihan’s other side as another feed appeared on the screen.

“_Raihan!_” Steven was smiling brightly, and much to Raihan’s relief—the man’s eyes were blue again. “_You did it!_”

“Yeah?” Raihan laughed softly as Steven leaned back, revealing that he and Wallace were sitting together on a couch, the taller man with his arm slung over the back of it. “As promised, Wallace. One month.”

“_One month._” Wallace chuckled, and nodded. “_And hello, Chairman Leon. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, properly._”

“_The pleasure is mine._” Leon smiled, self consciously tugging at a mild cowlick he had in his hair. Raihan smiled fondly at the sight of Leon’s darkening cheeks, and Wallace seemed to notice, too, smiling softly.

“_Well, then. To what we are gathered here for._” Wallace said, and gestured at the camera. “_Raihan, how did you save my husband and my son’s lives?_”

Leon’s eyes widened, and Raihan nodded. 

“I have a lot of things I should explain.” He said, “I’m going to start… a month ago.”

“_When we went to the Lake of Life?_” Steven asked, and Raihan nodded.

“When the fog fell on us, I was taken to the Hall of Origin.” 

“The Hall of Origin?” Cynthia gasped, “You—that’s—that place—”

“That’s where I met Arceus.” Raihan continued, nodding, and everyone fell quiet, staring at him in shock. “I know it sounds crazy, but I have proof, I promise. Let me upload a file.”

He scrolled through his phone, and brought up the selfie he took with Arceus. 

“I knew my habit of taking selfies would come in useful someday.” He huffed, as Steven smiled confusedly, cocking his head.

“_That’s an adorable-looking blob, Raihan, but I don’t think that’s what Arceus looks like._” He said, but Wallace’s eyes were wide, and he gripped his husband’s wrist.

“_Steven, that’s not what I see._” He said faintly.

“That’s not what I see, either.” Cynthia breathed. “That’s—that’s Arceus. The God Pokémon—_holy shit._”

“_Wait, why do I see a blob?_” Steven asked worriedly.

“Because that’s how it looks to Pokémon and secondary typed people, apparently.” Raihan said, “The white Pokémon in written records is how normal-type humans see it.” He smiled fondly, cocking his head at the way Arceus looked, and he had to admit—Steven was right. It looked more like a blob like this. He wondered how Arceus would take it if it heard what Steven said. “I didn’t know it worked for photos, too.”

“_Well, it _is _a God Pokémon. Maybe it has powers we can’t understand._” Leon said, and Raihan nodded.

“Anyway, I went up there, and we… had an argument.” Raihan said lamely. His companions blinked at him, and he sighed. “I said… I said that secondary typing was a curse, and that it should get rid of it, for everyone’s sake.”

“_Raihan…_” Leon breathed. 

Raihan shut his eyes, wincing. “Of course, it got angry at that. So we made a bet. If I could prove to it that I didn’t need secondary typing, that I could live without it, then it would get rid of secondary typing altogether.” He laughed bitterly. “So it took away my secondary typing for a month.”

“_I knew it._” Leon said faintly, and Raihan looked at him pityingly. “_Oh, I… I had a feeling. I was so worried, I… I didn’t know how to approach you about it._”

“_What about the typing intensification? If it was trying to prove that people could live without its gift, why did some people experience intensification?_” Wallace asked. 

“It was… my punishment, it said.” Raihan replied, wincing. “From what I could tell from what it said, it had apparently made my dragon blood stronger when I arrived at Sinnoh. That’s why I was more dragon-like than I had ever been while I was here. My ruts were more intense, I became more draconic, I… I could use a move. It was all because of Arceus.”

“Goodness.” Rowan hummed. 

“Tell me about it.” Raihan scoffed. “So it said that what it had poured into me, it would pour into others, into those I cherish.” He pressed his hand to his heart. “My friends. Nessa, Allister, Steven. Cobalt, I think, was involved too because of how I… well…” Raihan felt his cheeks burn, and he pushed himself to continue. “Because of how much I wish I could be like Steven and Wallace with Leon.”

Leon’s eyes widened, and they seemed to _sparkle _with joy. Raihan laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Married. A child, a happy home, a… family.” Raihan continued. “I wanted all that. So Arceus exploited that, too.”

“_Is it blasphemy for me to call it despicable for doing that?_” Steven said, deadpan, and Wallace laughed into his hand. 

“I can’t say.” Raihan chuckled, “Aside from that, it cursed me—I couldn’t speak of what we had agreed on. That was why every time I tried to explain myself I would choke—it cast a spell on me that strangled me every time I tried.”

“_That’s why you bled back in the Lake of Life._” Steven breathed, and Raihan winced, peering at Leon, who was gaping at them in horror. “_When you tried to tell me about what happened… that was Arceus’s doing._”

“Yeah.” Raihan said weakly, “Lee, it’s okay, I drank a bit of water—”

“_Raihan,_” Leon said shakily. “_You and I… need to talk. Privately. Sometime soon, after this._”

Raihan swallowed nervously, and nodded. “Uh,” He peered at the Stones, who shared bemused looks. “Yessir.”

Cynthia huffed softly next to him, and nudged at him.

“Keep going. I’m sure the more you explain, the more Leon will understand.” She whispered, and Raihan sighed.

“So, yeah. I spent the whole month without a secondary typing, and I couldn’t tell anyone about it. It was going well enough, and I thought that if I could just get through the month, no one else would ever have to suffer again, but then… things happened. A dear friend, who’d lost her typing because of me—because of Arceus granting my wish earlier on—got her typing back, and she was so _happy._” Raihan sighed, rubbing his arm. “I met King.” 

“_Ah._” Wallace hummed. “_I’ve heard about him from Cynthia._” 

“Yeah.” Raihan replied, “King and Aphis taught me that I didn’t have the right to speak for everyone with secondary typing. Not when there were others that loved it, couldn’t live without it. I don’t have the right to take that away from them.”

“_They could save lives with their typing._” Leon murmured, and Raihan smiled at his fiance. “_Like Leader Clemont, and Captain Kiawe._”

“Yeah.” He nodded, “I learned that secondary typing had its disadvantages, but if we struck a balance somewhere, the advantages would greatly outweigh them.” 

Steven looked unsure, and Wallace held his hand gently. 

“I’m sure that you, too, will find a balance with your typing, Steven.” Raihan said gently. “I know I will.” He looked at Leon, who had finally calmed down enough to smile at him. “You and I both have people who love us very much, typing and all. We’ll figure it out.”

“_We’ll meet halfway, remember?_” Wallace said warmly, lifting Steven’s hand to press a kiss to his dorsum. “_I still stand by that—and Raihan’s right. I love you, typing and all._”

Leon smiled at that, and Raihan wished he could be there to hold his hand, too. 

“Today, I went to see Arceus again. Cynthia helped me get back into the Lake of Life, but before I could talk to it, Matori, a Team Rocket Admin, had followed me in.” 

“_Matori?_” Leon gasped, “_She has secondary typing, too?_”

“Worse.” Raihan shook his head. “She was transfused with King’s blood.” He peered at Leon, and smiled weakly. “I think I forgot to tell you about that—apparently, transfusing a normal-type person with secondary typed blood gives them a secondary typing. That’s what Matori did.”

“_Oh shit._” Leon said, and Raihan blinked at him. “_Rose was getting a transfusion._”

“Rose?” Raihan’s heart leapt into his throat. “What—why’re you talking about him?” 

Leon jumped, and he looked ashamed of himself, looking off to the side. 

“_That’s why… I said that we should talk. Later._” He said, and Raihan swallowed thickly.

“I… okay.” He sighed, and continued. “We had a battle. She used dirty tricks to take out most of my team, except Gibble, and tried to capture Arceus herself. Steven—do you remember the tree in the middle of the Lake of Life?”

“_Yeah._” Steven nodded. “_I looked it up, and the closest I got was the Kalosian Legendary, Xerneas. Doesn’t make sense why it’d be in the Lake of Life, though._”

“Because that wasn’t Xerneas. It was Arceus’s corporeal form.” Raihan said, and Steven’s eyes widened. “Matori fired a giant poacher’s net at it, and she took a big chunk out of its strength trying to reel it in. I gave Arceus some of my blood to help it become dragon-type, and I think it helped Gibble evolve into a Gabite.”

“_Oh, she evolved!_” Steven lit up. “_Congratulations!_”

“Thanks.” Raihan chuckled, “As a Gabite, Gibble could set Arceus free from the net, and we managed to take Matori down. The team then decided to…” He bit back a snorting laugh. “Waterboard her. After that.”

“_In the Lake of Life?_” Steven laughed incredulously, and Raihan nodded. “_A healing lake… used to waterboard someone. That’s ironic._”

“Actually, it wasn’t healing her.” Raihan shook his head. “Unlike real secondary typed people, people with artificial secondary typing are first purified, and then cursed by the lake. The Lake of Life took away Matori’s steel typing, and then caused an infection in her wound.” 

“_Holy shit._” Leon hissed. 

“Yeah. We took her back here and she’s currently getting treatment before we hand her in to the police tomorrow, if she’s well enough.” Raihan sighed. “Anyway, while Darude and the gang were committing crimes, I was heading to the Hall of Origin. Arceus needed help, so I brought it some water from the lake and helped it out.”

He looked back to the picture, and smiled.

“And then we talked. About everything.” Raihan said. “It… admitted that perhaps its gift wasn’t the grand thing it thought it was, and I… admitted that maybe this thing wasn’t a curse after all.”

“_The both of you lost the bet._” Leon murmured, and Raihan nodded. 

“So it decided to give my typing back to me… and we struck a balance.” He said. “I asked it to keep secondary typing in the world, but to tone it down a little. Just so that it wouldn’t pose a real threat to our lives.”

“_Oh, I see._” Steven sighed, and looked down at his hands. “_Tonight, during dinner—well, when Wallace was having dinner—Cobalt complained that he was hungry. That was when we realised we’d gone back to normal. We could eat again, I could… feel again._” He smiled softly. “_It was such a big relief, but I gotta say, I…_” He laughed nervously. “_I think I understand how you feel, Raihan._”

Raihan smiled at that. 

“_The way I am, I can protect my family. I know my son will be safe._” Steven nodded. “_The rest… I think we can figure out for ourselves._”

“That’s right.” Raihan nodded. “And now that I have my dragon typing back, I can save King, too.”

“How will you find him?” Cynthia asked. “I mean, I don’t think Matori will say anything, even if we tried.”

“I’ll find a way.” Raihan grinned. “Now that I’m a dragon, I don’t mind getting captured again as much.” 

“_Raihan._” Leon said sternly. “_Be careful._”

“I will.” Raihan nodded.

“_King, huh…_” Steven hummed. “_He sounds like a mysterious man. Not even a name…_”

“Actually, Arceus told me his name!” Raihan lit up, and his companions blinked at him. “His name is Lysandre!”

Cynthia, Wallace, and Steven went pale, and Raihan blinked at them in confusion. Leon cocked his head at them, too, and Cynthia gently took Raihan’s hand. 

“Oh, Arceus.” She said faintly. “Raihan… I… I don’t know how to tell you this, but…”

“_Lysandre is dead._” Steven said flatly, his smile disappearing from his face, his lips turning down into a frown. “_Raihan, I don’t know who it is you met down there, but Arceus is lying to you._”

“Huh?” Raihan cocked his head, frowning. “No. Even Arceus didn’t know that Lysandre was alive, until it saw him through my eyes. It said that Yveltal hadn’t seen him die—King _is _Lysandre.”

“Raihan,” Cynthia said gently, “Has Lysandre ever told you about his life?”

Raihan stopped, and he looked down at his hands. 

“Vaguely.” He said. “He said he’d done something terrible, a long time ago.” Raihan shut his eyes. “He said that his… kingdom had collapsed on him, and that Team Rocket found his body underneath the rubble.” 

“_That can’t be._” Steven breathed. “_Serena said—she said—_”

Cynthia’s eyes widened. “Lysandre_ survived the cave-in._”

“_Huh?_” Leon blinked. “_Serena? Champion Serena of Kalos?_”

Raihan’s eyes widened. _Little Champion._

_“It seems like a staple at this point, that Champions take down some large looming menace over them,_” Leon had once said. It had been a recurring joke since Champion Red, and then the new Champions of each region. Champion Serena was no exception, Raihan had heard, but that was ten years ago. 

_Ten years ago._

“Oh, shit.” He said, his blood turning into ice. 

“_Ten years ago, Lysandre, Leader of Team Flare, created a weapon powered by the Kalosian Legendaries. This weapon threatened to kill all life on earth at the cost of the lives of every single Pokémon._” Steven said, and Raihan had never seen the man look so _angry._ “_In the name of making the world _beautiful, _he’d said. His team also captured, experimented on, and controlled another Legendary, the Order Pokémon, Zygarde._” 

“_It was said that he’d been cursed by Zygarde. I could feel it, just by seeing his image, back then._” Wallace sighed. “_And so the earth swallowed him whole for his sins against mankind._”

“This isn’t nearly as terrible, but he broke my dear friend’s heart, too.” Cynthia murmured, rubbing her arm. “Raihan, I can’t accept that King is the same man as _Lysandre_.”

“I…” Raihan deflated. “I… had no idea.”

“_Could he be this man, Raihan?_” Leon asked, and another photo came up on the feed. Raihan’s eyes widened when he saw King’s blazing blue eyes staring back at him. He was much younger in the photo—a proud man with the dignity of a king that had a powerful gaze that held Raihan’s in a commanding hold. He had a hand pressed to his heart, and Raihan could see a Mega Ring on his middle finger. 

He remembered the line of bleached skin on King’s finger, and Raihan’s stomach sank.

“That’s King.” He said softly, “There’s no doubt about it…” He took a shuddering breath. “His team… there were three Pokémon named Pluton, Jove, and Leonidas.”

“_No way._” Cynthia breathed.

“My team told me that they had another friend… Leviathan.” Raihan sighed. “They miss him.”

“_Leviathan._” Steven said faintly. 

“_That name sounds familiar._” Wallace frowned. “_Was he the red Gyarados that Professor Sycamore tried to save?_”

“_Raihan, I’m so sorry._” Steven sighed. “_Leviathan… had to be put down._”

“_I now have Lysandre's Key Stone, and Caesar has Leviathan's Mega Stone._” Wallace said. “_Raihan… I'm so sorry._”

“What?” Raihan breathed. “That’s—but—” He stammered, and he deflated. “I can’t believe this…”

“_I know it’s hard to accept, but it seems that King really is Lysandre._” Leon said slowly, and Raihan looked up at him. “_But don’t you think that what he’s gone through, for those ten years, is justice enough?_”

They all blinked at Leon, who laughed sadly. 

“_Ten years of torture, of pain… isn’t that enough pain for a lifetime?_” Leon asked, “_Wretched man or not, I… I believe that he deserves to be saved, too. Especially if he’s more like King now, than he is Lysandre._” Leon flushed, and he smiled sheepishly. “_At least… that’s what I think._”

“I…” Cynthia began, and she deflated, shaking her head.

“I agree.” Rowan spoke up, and they all turned to look at him. “Mr. Chairman is right. For those ten years, Lysandre has paid for his sins, at Team Rocket’s benefit. If we were to take him away from that, we would deny Team Rocket his steel-type blood, and perhaps, when he comes home to Kalos, justice can be served, and souls can finally be laid to rest.”

“_But…_” Steven began. “_Professor, he and his team have killed people. Zygarde’s attack on Lumiose, Geosenge…_”

“Sometimes it is a greater punishment to live than it is to die.” Rowan said. “I know you are angry, Mr. Stone. Kalos shares your anger. However, justice can only be served if those who are wronged are there to see it.” He smiled softly. “Otherwise, what good is Lysandre’s punishment, if all of Kalos never knew the truth?”

Raihan gaped at him, and the man sat back in his seat with a contented sigh. He took a sip of his cocoa, nodding knowingly. 

“_You’re right._” Steven sighed. “_Thanks, Professor. You too, Leon._”

“_It’s hard to accept, but we all have to keep going._” Leon nodded. “_I’ve had to deal with that too, after all._”

Steven flinched. “_Right. Sorry._”

“_It’s okay._” Leon smiled kindly, and Rowan nodded. 

“So, it’s agreed—Raihan will save Lysandre, should he ever get the chance. If it helps your conscience, Mr. Stone, you’re welcome to come here to Sinnoh and help transport Lysandre back to Kalos.”

“_I will._” Steven nodded. “_Least I could do for Professor Sycamore._”

“I’ll do what I can, too.” Cynthia nodded. She gave Raihan a smile, and he nodded back at her. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we’ll definitely save Lysandre.”

“Let’s do it for King.” Raihan grinned, and her smile widened. 

“For King.” She agreed. 

“_Oh, sorry, I’ve got to go._” Leon said, and Raihan turned to look at him. “_I’ll be late for work._”

“Take care, babe.” Raihan gave him a wave, and Leon smiled at him sweetly. “Talk to you later? After work.”

“_If you’re awake then, sure._” Leon chuckled. “_Love you._”

“Love you too.” Raihan blew him a kiss, and Leon disconnected from the call. The dragon grinned at his companions, and nodded. “I’ll see you guys soon.” He said, and the Stones nodded.

“_Keep us posted about Lysandre._” Steven said. “_I’ll be ready whenever._”

“Won’t be for a while, but I’ll update you when things happen.” Raihan replied. “Bye.”

“_Bye._” Steven smiled, and the Stones hung up. Raihan turned to Cynthia and Rowan, and he sighed tiredly. 

“I think… I’ve had enough of crazy shit for today.” He laughed, and the two archaeologists laughed with him. “I’m going to bed! Goodnight!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao the only two times this'll amount of joy will happen again, i bet, is when clemont and raihan come home


	72. Coming Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Or what, Lee?” 
> 
> “Or… I’ll… have you come home, championship or not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do not ask me for anything ever again

“And that’s the last of the stuff today!” Ricki said cheerfully. “Wow, we finished before the day ended—you’re really motivated, Boss!”

“Yeah?” Leon smiled tiredly at her, and Ricki’s expression softened on him. 

“Is it about Leader Raihan, sir?” She asked, and he sighed, nodding as he dropped his head on his arms on the table. “What happened this morning?”

“Well… I learned a lot of things today.” He said, smiling. “One, that everyone with secondary typing seems to have it a bit easier now.” 

“Oh!” Ricki lit up, and he nodded. “Now that you mention it, Leader Bea dropped by today…”

“Yep. Allister’s back to normal. Nessa, too.” Leon sighed happily, sitting up straight. “It was all thanks to Raihan.”

“I’m glad it turned out okay.” Ricki replied, and he nodded. “So why the long face?”

“Raihan… sorta found out I had met with Rose.” Leon said, and Ricki winced. 

“Oof. Sorry, sir.” She said, and he laughed, shaking his head. 

“Nah, it was my fault, anyway.” He replied. “I let slip that I’d seen Rose. I was so worried about Raihan getting hurt that I just… slipped up, I guess.” 

His assistant sighed sadly, patting her cheek. “He sounds like he’s in big trouble over yonder.”

“A bit, yeah.” Leon sighed, and he looked at his phone. “Should be… around 8 AM in Sinnoh right now. Maybe he can take a call.”

“Oh, I’ll head out then.” Ricki nodded, and he gave her a smile.

“You can end the day early, Ricki.” He said, and she lit up. “Since we’ve got nothing much left to do.”

“Oh, wow!” The young woman gasped. “Thanks, sir! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow.” He smiled, and she gave him a cheerful wave, hurrying out of the office. He chuckled fondly, shaking his head, and he looked at his phone. “Okay. Time to bite the bullet…”

* * *

“Oh, hey.” Raihan smiled, sitting up from where he had been lying in the grass to see that Leon was calling. Around him, the cool wind of Mt. Coronet was on the side of frigid, but he had Cynthia’s constellation blanket wrapped around him, and his flask of tea from this morning was still hot thanks to the insulation around it. He took a sip of tea, smiling as he patched the call through, and he let his phone float in front of him to see Leon smiling at him from his office desk. 

“Hey, babe.” He greeted, and Leon gave him a wave. 

“_Hi, Raihan._” Leon said, and rested his cheek on his hand. “_Ugh, I’m exhausted._”

“Did you finish the day early?” Raihan chuckled, and Leon nodded, pouting. “Aw, Lee. It’s okay to call a little later, you know.”

“_I didn’t know your schedule. Forgot to ask, sorry._” Leon winced, and Raihan shrugged. “_And I wanted to call you as soon as I could._” 

“Well, we’re here now.” Raihan sighed, “Who’s gonna speak up first?”

“_The guy who bled out._” Leon frowned, and Raihan laughed gingerly. “_What in the fresh hell was that all about, Rai? On top of that, you got captured by Team Rocket—you’re _really _making me want to come there, or…_” He shook his head. 

“Or what, Lee?” Raihan asked gently, and Leon ruffled his hair.

“_Or… I’ll… have you come home, championship or not._”

Raihan blinked at him, his eyes wide, and Leon sighed, shaking his head.

“_… No. I can’t do that._” He said, “_I just… you know I support you going on this journey._” He murmured, and Raihan nodded. “_I’m sorry. I’m just… really scared for you right now. All these things happening to you…_”

“To be fair, none of that was my fault, I think.” Raihan said, “I didn’t ask Team Rocket to kidnap me, and I _definitely _didn’t ask Arceus to fuck me up, but… I get it. I should be more careful. I’m sorry, too.”

Leon sighed. “_Sometimes I think to myself that I wish I could be there to protect you. I wish that I could drop everything here in Galar to be with you there in Sinnoh, to fight away everything that ever tried to hurt you, just so you can achieve your dream, but…_” He shook his head. “_That’s a fool’s dream._”

“It’d be difficult, yeah.” Raihan agreed. “Together, I know we’d be pretty badass, but I think it’d be hard, too. If Team Rocket had their hands on you, and used you against me… I don’t think I’d make it out of there alive, even with Lysandre’s help.”

“_I… guess._” Leon sighed.

“You wouldn’t be able to come with me into the Lake of Life, either.” Raihan sighed. “Normal-type people aren’t allowed in there. But you know… Janus told me something interesting about the Lake of Life. Apparently, it’s a portal to anywhere in the world.”

“_Anywhere?_” Leon breathed.

“Yeah, I can come back home to you, if I wanted.” He nodded, and Leon lit up. “But… I promised myself I wouldn’t come back to Galar without completing the Sinnohan League. I… wouldn’t be the man I promised I would be when I married you.”

“_Rai…_” Leon smiled, sighing happily as his eyes shone with emotion. “_I love you so much._”

“I love you too.” Raihan chuckled, “But yeah. You can’t be here, and I can’t come home. That’s really just it, and whatever happens to me, I’ll get through them with my typing.” He gave Leon a wide grin. “This time, we’ll cooperate, I promise.”

“_I hope you will._” Leon said warmly. “_Still won’t stop me from wishing I was there, though_.”

“Me too.” Raihan laughed. “But you won’t be able to fulfil your promise if you were over here.”

“_Oh, Dexit._” Leon winced. “_That law… has been a huge pain in the ass._”

“I think that’s your cue.” Raihan raised an eyebrow at him, and Leon sighed, nodding.

* * *

“Yeah.” He replied. “I know you’re most worried about the fact that I mentioned Rose. You see, you know how I’m trying to repeal Dexit, right?” On the other side of the call, Raihan nodded. “The reason for that was because I got rid of the mining sector.”

“_Yeah, you told me._” Raihan hummed. “_Then the protests happened._”

“The whole mess, yeah.” Leon sighed. “I got desperate, and I didn’t know what to do, but I didn’t have anyone I could ask. I didn’t trust the MC Board of Directors, because all of them had some loyalty to themselves, and Oleana was too busy with the Eternabatt project, I didn’t want to disturb her.” He took a shaky breath. “So I went to ask Rose.”

“_Lee._” Raihan breathed, “_Are you okay? What the _shit,_ and Dr. Grana said this was an _okay_ thing to do?_”

“Listen, none of us wanted me to do it, but I didn’t have much of a choice.” Leon said, “Rose had isolated me from so many people that could’ve helped me, and so he was the only person I could talk to.”

“_What’d he do?_” Raihan asked lowly, and his eyes were thinned into slits. Leon couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his eyes—oh, he’d missed Raihan’s dragon side, too. 

“To be fair, at the start he’d been helpful.” Leon replied. “He gave me sound advice—he really does love Macro Cosmos, he wouldn’t want it to fall apart, so he told me what to do about the problem. I brought back the mining sector, gave everyone raises, and used leftover funds for green projects.” Leon’s expression fell. “But then… he started bringing up the past.”

“_Lee…_” Raihan sighed.

“It hurt. I think I lost that screaming match.” Leon laughed self-deprecatingly. “I mean, there was no way I could’ve won. I’d never been good at lying to people, or sparring verbally with them. My conversation with your grandmother had been a fluke—it was about _you, _but when it comes to me…” He rubbed his arm, and he shut his eyes.

“Sometimes I think Rose programmed me to throw myself under the bus to protect myself.” Leon shuddered. “He pushed all the right buttons to get me mad, and I lost it. I don’t know why I ever thought he’d change in there—he hasn’t changed at all. I think he’s mad about what happened, and lashed out at me.”

“_You were an easy target._” Raihan said, and Leon flinched. “_Sorry. But that just tells me Rose is still that massive coward he is._” His eyes glinted dangerously, and Leon felt a thrilling chill go down his spine. “_There was a reason why I put a Fighting-type move on Gladiolus’s moveset. No reason not to put it back when I get home._”

“Rai,” Leon huffed exasperatedly, but he did feel better. “I’m… I’m glad you’re not mad.”

“_Why would I be mad, babe? You said it yourself, you had no one else to talk to._” Raihan sighed. “_But frankly, I never want you to go back in there again. Let’s figure something out—who else can you talk to?_”

“Steven Stone.” Leon said brightly, and Raihan jumped in realisation.

“_Oh, shit! That’s right—Steven’s a CEO. I _know _he’ll help you out, no problem._”

“Yeah.” Leon chuckled, “I received an email earlier today from him asking about projects to work on in Galar already. They’d been drafted out for _ages, _but Steven had never approved any of them—not while Rose was still in charge.”

“_Damn._” Raihan whistled. “_Seems he knew something was up too, huh?_”

“Like Aether Foundation.” Leon nodded. “We got to talking together in the emails, and he said it’d been Macro Cosmos’s unscrupulous business practice and bad environmental impact. With the changes I’d made, he said, he was more comfortable with working with MC now. Guess there _is _some merit to me being CEO, huh?”

“_Did Rose tell you otherwise?_” Raihan asked gently, and Leon sighed.

“Yeah…” He mumbled. “He said I was good at battling, _and very little else._” He said dryly, shaking his head. Raihan snarled in frustration. “Yeah. In hindsight, that’s a fuckin’ _stupid _thing to say, huh?”

“_You think?_” Raihan scoffed, “_Lee, you’re a genius. You learn quickly, and you learn well. I’ve never met someone who’s able to pick up the reins of the biggest damn company in the region and have it under control within a month._”

“The staff _did _have to mark my office with signs for like, two months, though.” Leon chuckled, and Raihan grinned at that.

“_That’s just your adorable character trait. And you learned where your office is, anyway._”

“That I did.” Leon sighed, leaning back in his seat. “So, there. Repealing Dexit is so damn hard. Building a Power Spot in Spikemuth and restoring the Power Spot in Derbyton feels _impossible._ I feel like I keep taking three steps back.”

“_I’m sorry it’s been hard._” Raihan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “_Say, have you tried asking around other corporations to help out?_”

“I have, actually.” Leon nodded. “Your mum helped me out, too. Got the PR going for greener living, and other companies have volunteered to adopt the MC environmental practices.” 

“_Well, what do you know._” Raihan grinned. “_Rose can eat a hat, for all I care._”

“Rai.” Leon laughed, and his fiancé gave him a wide grin. 

“_You’ve got this, babe. You’ll get it done in a year, I believe in you._”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed. “Honestly, I’m just glad that the Hammerlocke Quarantine Facility incident didn’t reflect poorly on me.”

“_Well, no one could’ve known. And it’s not like MC runs the Quarantine Facilities anyway, they’re state-sponsored._” Raihan huffed. “_Any update on that, by the way?_”

“Sena’s reported he’s seen some sketchy shit on Lord Narcissus’s tablet.” Leon said, and Raihan blinked at him. “Yes, I have corporate spies now. Isn’t _that _something.”

“_That’s hot, babe._” Raihan purred.

“Easy.” Leon grinned. “He apparently found a list of Pokémon in an email Lord Narcissus received on the evening of the Hammerlocke Facility attack. There’s a date and time on the document, too, set a month or so from now, somewhere off Route 3. Do you recognise this address?”

Leon sent the address over to Raihan in the chat, and Raihan frowned at it.

“_Oh, shit._” He said faintly. “_Lee, uh… this is our summer home._”

Leon’s expression tightened. “I see.” He said. “I’ll check it out when the time comes. I don’t like the implications of this finding.”

“_Me neither._” Raihan shook his head. “_You be careful, Lee._”

“I will.” Leon nodded, and he took a deep breath. “And another thing—when I talked to Rose, he’d been receiving a blood transfusion.”

“_What?_” Raihan gasped.

“Even Detective Robin didn’t know why. His doctor refuses to tell us why, and while Rose was willing to let me know, he didn’t tell me because everyone else was listening in to our conversation.”

“_Understandably._” Raihan nodded.

“Yeah.” Leon replied. “When you mentioned that Matori had been transfused with Lysandre’s blood, I couldn’t help but wonder…” 

“_Do you think Rose was trying to give himself a steel typing?_” Raihan asked, and Leon nodded. “_I think that’s highly probable. Lee, you’re gonna have to figure out where he’s been getting the blood, and how._”

“I’ll ask Detective Robin to help me.” Leon said. “That being said, I’m… a little worried about me, too.” 

“_What’s wrong?_” Raihan’s eyes widened.

“A long time ago, back when I was Champion, you know how controlling Rose had been.” He said, and Raihan nodded worriedly. “The thing is… he’d had his doctors inject me with things. I never learned what they were, and in the end, they didn’t do anything to me, but… I can’t help but wonder…”

“_Shit, do you think Rose worked with Team Rocket?_” Raihan breathed.

“Maybe not _work,_ but it’s likely he was a client.” Leon winced. “_Still _a client.”

“_That’s not good._” Raihan frowned. “_Do you know anything about the blood bags he was using?_” 

“Just that the donor is blood type O, Rh negative.” Leon replied. “Other than that, I got nothing. I don’t even know who would know what Lysandre’s blood type is.”

“_Neither do I._” Raihan hummed for a long moment, and nodded. “_Guess that’s everything, huh?_”

“Yeah.” Leon smiled sheepishly. “Jeez, look at us… needing to catch up like this.”

“_I know._” Raihan laughed, shaking his head. “_Steven told me to be more transparent with you about my journey, but that was right before Arceus cursed me, that cheeky bastard._”

Leon laughed behind his hand. “Well, I should’ve been more transparent, too.” He said. “So we’re even.”

“_Guess we are._” Raihan grinned. “_Are you heading home soon?_”

“I’ll drop by Hammerlocke.” Leon said, “Some of the team’s in there, and Pumpkin’s under observation in the Hammerlocke Castle Pokémon Centre.”

“_How is she?_” Raihan’s expression softened into worry, and Leon shook his head.

“Her growth’s been stunted, and she’s been experiencing chronic fatigue. Nurse Joy said that she’s been experiencing faster ageing in her body, so that’s why she burns out so quickly… she got hemolymph transfusions lately, though, and she’s set for surgery for new hemolymph glands.” 

“_Hopefully, that’ll help her out?_” 

Leon nodded. “Nurse Joy is hopeful that it will.” He sighed, rubbing his arm. “These Rocket controllers… are _horrible._”

“_They are._” Raihan sighed, shaking his head. “_The effects it has on Pokémon still aren’t very well known, but damn… Pumpkin. I hope I get to see her._”

“You will.” Leon said firmly, and Raihan’s eyes widened. “I won’t—I’ll do everything I can to make sure she survives. She _deserves _to become a Flygon just as much as all the other Trapinches do.” His hand balled into a fist on his desk, shaking. “I can’t—I won’t—I won’t let Team Rocket take her from me, too.”

“_Right._” Raihan nodded, smiling at Leon supportively. “_I’ll keep thinking of her._”

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, and he jumped when he saw Raihan look up to somewhere beyond his phone. “Oh, are you about to go?”

“_Yeah, coming!_” Raihan called, and turned back to Leon. “_Sorry. We’re about to head out. We’re bringing Matori to the Jubilife General Hospital, where Officer Jenny’s gonna meet us. After that I’ll have my team looked over at the Pokémon Centre._”

“Where are you going after this?”

“_Probably train a bit more._” Raihan shrugged, “_Sign up for some Contests, maybe. I’m taking on the water-type Gym after this._”

“Take care. Do your best.” Leon smiled. “Time for Gooms and her Thunder to shine, huh?”

“_Yep!_” Raihan grinned. “_I’ll see you tonight?_”

“See you tomorrow.” Leon chuckled, and Raihan blew him a kiss. “I love you.”

“_Love you too._” Raihan replied, and hung up. Leon sighed happily, leaning back in his seat as he smiled at the ceiling. 

“Take care.” He murmured, and he shut his eyes, resting for a long moment. He took a sharp breath, grinning wide as he got up onto his feet, bouncing on his heels. “Okay. I’m off to Hammerlocke.”

* * *

Hammerlocke University was voted the most beautiful campus in Galar, located within the castle town of Hammerlocke Castle, nestled between the stronghold and the ancient wall that surrounded the town. The University was subsidised by the Duchy of Hammerlocke, and focused primarily on social sciences, history, and the arts, and when Leon strode in through the front doors, he felt like he was walking right into the castle lobby of Hammerlocke Castle proper. 

He remembered Raihan explaining to him that Hammerlocke U used to be an abbey, annexed to the side of the castle. Some portions of the dungeons, watch towers, and other areas of the wall were soon converted to teaching spaces in the more modern era, and Leon didn’t find it at all surprising to learn that Raihan had spent his college years here. He came to a stop at a large portrait in the lobby, smiling fondly up at the sight of Raihan in full Hammerlocke noble regalia, his draconic ice-blue eyes the main focus of the portrait.

“Ah, Mr. Chairman!” Someone called, and Leon lit up, turning around to see a lithe young woman in something he imagined historical teachers wore, but upgraded to modern sensibilities. She had her long brown hair up in a messy bun that was currently being held together by her delighted Whimsicott, who gave him a wave as she hurried over. “Hello! You’re just in time!”

“Miss Bernadette!” Leon nodded at her, and the two of them came to a stop at the foot of the portrait, looking up at it with twin fond smiles on their lips. 

“Ah, Duke Raihan. I wonder how he’s doing.” She said, and Leon chuckled.

“Wonderfully.” He replied, and turned to her, nodding. “If you mean I’m just in time, did you…”

“Yes, we’ve finished your commission.” Bernadette nodded, adjusting her wire-frame glasses, “Please, this way.”

Bernadette led him down the corridors of the school, and Leon couldn’t help but smile and wave at the bewildered stares from the students he passed by. The surprised, delighted murmurs of his name rang through the halls, and Leon heaved a sigh of relief—at least, it seemed, the public still thought of him favourably. 

Leon and Bernadette came to a stop at her office, tucked away at the bottom of a spiral staircase underneath a watchtower, and she pushed the heavy oak door open, huffing as her Whimsicott blew away the dust that had gathered in the time she was gone.

“Thank you, Cesario.” She said, and she gestured for Leon to follow her inside. “The girls all had a _blast _making this set, I have to say. It’s certainly helped that Duke Raihan’s measurements have never changed—the mock-ups and patterns we’ve used before helped us out again! He’s such a good model to work with, maintaining his body so well.”

Leon laughed dreamily to himself. “Yeah.” He sighed, and Bernadette blinked at him. Leon snapped out of his daydream, laughing nervously. “I-I mean, yeah! He’s—he’s an athlete, after all.”

Bernadette smiled at him kindly, and nodded. 

“And a very good model.” She said, and ushered Leon onwards into her office. “He’s over here.” The brunette gestured at a covered dress form, and Leon held his breath as Cesario the Whimsicott dropped off Bernadette’s hair to let it fall in a cascade of brown. His trainer didn’t seem to mind as they stood at either side of the dress form, holding the cloth that covered it, and Bernadette gave Leon a wide grin. 

“Are you ready to see him?”

“Yeah.” Leon nodded eagerly, and Bernadette and Cesario unveiled [the suit on the dress form](https://twitter.com/mogehera2/status/1234344984742023168?s=20) with a flourish. Leon’s eyes widened in awe as Bernadette nodded. “Oh, wow…”

“Piece by piece, sir: first, with the jacket,” She gestured at the jacket as Leon reached out to touch it reverently. “Fine emerald green silk for the blazer, and if you turn him out, you’ll see that he’s lined with some lovely red patterned satin.” There’s a pause for a flourish, and Leon noticed the silver snake scale pattern against the red. “The necktie is made of the same material, as well. The collar is a darker green silk, and the snake pattern underneath it is appliquéd to mimic the Sandaconda’s scale pattern.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Leon breathed, reverently running his hands over the sleeves. 

“Thank you.” Bernadette chuckled, as Leon looked at the cuffs. “Four handmade gold buttons, bearing the Hammerlocke insignia, on each cuff. The buttons also close the waistcoat, which is made of very fine linen. It goes on top of a cotton shirt with a fine yellow snake-scale pattern.”

“This is… _very _fancy.” Leon laughed softly, gently shutting the jacket over the waistcoat, and he looked down at the trousers to look at the right leg. “Oh?”

“On the right leg, an appliqué Sandaconda winds around His Grace’s leg from below his knee to halfway up his thigh. It should _sparkle _under the harsh light of a Contest Hall.” Bernadette nodded. “We’ve prepared accessories, too, though the shoes will have to come from His Grace.” She chuckled. 

“I think he’ll manage that.” Leon smiled, and he turned to her, nodding happily. “Oh, Miss Bernadette, it’s beautiful. I’m so grateful—and you and your team finished it so _quickly!_”

“Well, when I have a team of young people all eagerly waiting for Galar’s biggest royal wedding, we are all capable of amazing things.” She replied, giggling softly. “I know Duke Raihan’s birthday is still quite some time away, but we were eager to show this to you as soon as possible, in case you’d like any adjustments made.” 

“It’s already gorgeous as it is,” Leon nodded, “If there are still any necessary adjustments, I’d rather leave it in your capable hands.”

“Well,” Bernadette hummed, “Maybe a bit more detailing on the appliqué…” 

“Do whatever you deem necessary,” Leon chuckled, “Don’t worry about the time. We’ve got plenty of it.”

“Thank you.” Bernadette nodded. “Guess we’ll get started on it again.” 

“Thanks.” Leon smiled, and he turned to look at the suit as the young woman hurried away. He sighed dreamily as he stood closer to it, and he realised the dress form had Raihan’s build—it had been made specifically for Raihan’s clothes, Bernadette had said, but Leon didn’t realise how _close _the dress form was to the real thing. He smiled to himself, and leaned against the dress form’s chest, resting his head on its shoulder.

“Rai, I miss you.” He murmured, holding onto the edge of the sleeve as he took a shaky breath. “Come home safe…” 

He shut his eyes, and his heart ached when he couldn’t feel warmth from the body he leant against. The only scent that lingered was the musty scent of the Hammerlocke U’s Clothing Technology department, and Leon knew that he was very much alone.

Leon sniffled, and laughed softly. 

“Raihan, come home soon…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just in case you missed it, [here's raihan's suit](https://twitter.com/mogehera2/status/1234344984742023168?s=20) for visual reference.
> 
> also yes, _that_ bernadette and cesario.


	73. The Pain of Loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, I fell from the heavens and landed on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact i'm currently writing chapter 79 and reyna named fantina's mismagius heather

_ONE MONTH LATER_

Once upon a time, I fell from the heavens and landed on Earth.

Burning in the atmosphere was painful. The stardust that made my scales sparkle turned mottled and deep violet, and they broke off in chips of burning scales that covered what little remained of my body. 

I woke up in an unfamiliar world. Surrounded by unfamiliar creatures, I was free to do what I wanted. I played with the creatures of the land, but so many of them were so small, so _tiny, _compared to me, and they broke so easily. I was lonely. I couldn’t make friends in this place I called my new home. I set fire to the green and turned the water into the violet of my scales. I tried to wash off the burns of the atmosphere, but all it did was bring me pain. I was so scared; I didn’t know what to do.

One day, I was greeted by the gods of the world, and I thought I would make new friends.

Instead, they hurt me with a pointy blue weapon, and a hurtful red weapon. I kept running away, but they followed suit, making my body fall apart piece by piece, until I came to a rest at the top of a hill. 

“Stop, please!” I had said, “No more! I’m scared!” but the sword and shield didn’t understand me. I was all alone, my skull beaten in and my core stabbed through, and I couldn’t take it anymore. 

I shut my eyes and said goodbye to the rest of the world.

* * *

Thousands of years later, I was woken up by a very scary man. I was pumped full of energy, and I couldn’t take it. I had to destroy this world. I hated it here, I thought, I wanted to go home. This world doesn’t want me, no one loves me. 

I can’t make friends. I can’t live here. No one can accept me here. I’m all alone. 

_“Together!” Twin voices called._

Until I suddenly wasn’t alone anymore.

* * *

“Hey, good mornin’.” The little Champion cooed, and I raised my head from the ground where I had been napping.

“Good morning.” I greeted, and rested my head on their hands—so small, so _gentle._

“That’s right. Who’s a big worm? Who’s a big worm?” They cooed, and I wondered why they called me that sometimes. I’m not a worm—I’m a dragon! The big mushroom-head Pokémon king said so. 

“I am!” I said anyway, as I always did, and cuddled close to my little Champion. They laughed brightly, cuddling back, and they pressed their forehead to my head. 

“Ah, man. Look at you.” They sighed fondly. “Not as big and bad as everyone says you are.”

“Thank you.” I said, though I know they could never hear me. “Thank you so much, Champion.”

The brunet gave me scratches under my chin, just as I liked them. I wagged my tail—I’d seen Baphomet do this sometimes, and I thought it would be fun—and it made my Champion grin brightly. 

“It’s been a year, but I still can’t get over how _normal _you are.” They chuckled, “You’re just a big ol’ Pokémon, aren’t ya? Nothing to be scared of.” Their smile deflated somewhat, and I leaned in, rubbing our heads together. “Oh, Eternatus. Sometimes I wonder how you’re doing.” 

“I’ve never been better.” I replied, though my name was not Eternatus—at least, that was what I remembered. A long time ago, in the vastness of the skies above the atmosphere, I sparkled in the light of the sun. My scales were so shiny and new when I had been born, and now they were dull and dark, burned to a crisp in the earth’s atmosphere, and the years of sleep underneath the tall, dragon-shaped castle. 

“I hope you’re doing better.” They murmured. “I know you were just scared back then. Hop and I were scared too. All of us were.” They laughed sadly. “And then… we just figured it out, huh?”

I knew they had been scared. The fear in their eyes felt the same as I had that day I was woken up. That had been the moment I understood—

The world was not as cruel as I thought it was. That was why I stayed in my Pokéball. I wanted to be with this curious young person, brave enough to face me despite the fear they felt—despite the fear _I _felt. 

“I love you.” I said, and my little Champion smiled. 

“Someday, I want you to see the rest of the world.” They said gently. “Apparently, according to Sonia, you’re technically an Ultra Beast. There’s lots of those in Alola, you know? Nice, warm place. I bet you’d love it there.”

“Wherever you want.” I said, and they nodded. 

“Okay, we’re heading off to Hammerlocke.” They said, “I’ve got a field trip today with Bede and Marnie for History class, and the class is meeting up at the castle.” 

Hammerlocke. I think I remember that place—it was where I slept for so very long. 

“Okay.” I said, and they got onto my back. I waited until they patted my scales, and I took off into the sky.

* * *

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Derbyton.” Leon mused as he and Ricki got into the Flying Taxi, and his assistant nodded cheerfully. 

“Well, construction has been going well. The townspeople have been very cooperative, too.” She said, “Magiflora’s been helping out, too.”

“Really.” Leon frowned, and Ricki waved her hands defensively.

“Nothing too extreme, though! They supply generators during construction where the electricity lines can’t reach. They also supply some heavy equipment.” She said, “That’s it.”

“Hmm.” Leon hummed. “You seem to know a lot about Magiflora.” 

Ricki turned bright red. “Y-you think so?” She asked, and Leon raised an eyebrow at her, grinning slightly. She tore her gaze away from him, and he chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Okay, fine. Keep your secrets.” He said bemusedly. “I know you have a friend at Magiflora. Lord Narcissus's assistant, right? You have girls’ nights out sometimes.”

“Oh!” Ricki blinked. “You knew about that?”

“Well, you dress up nicely on Fridays. I figured it had to be that.” He grinned, and she lit up. “Did I get it right?”

“Aw, boss!” She squealed, hugging his arm. “You really are the sweetest!”

“You work really hard, Ricki! It’s the least I can do to pay attention.” Leon laughed, patting her head with his free hand, and she grinned, pulling away from him. “Man, we’re totally different from Rose and Miss Oleana, aren’t we?”

“I suppose we are.” Ricki hummed. “Then again, we’re not the same people, so I’m not surprised at all.” She gave him a wide grin, and Leon smiled back at her. “So don’t sweat it, boss.”

“That’s true.” Leon chuckled, and he looked down at his phone. He let out a little surprised laugh when he unlocked it to find that he had been on PokéGram, looking at one of Raihan’s old posts. 

“Oh, that’s Leader Raihan!” Ricki lit up, leaning in to look, and Leon nodded. 

_@dragonborn241 CRASHER WAKE!!!_

The photo had been of Raihan striking a pose next to Crasher Wake, the water-type Gym Leader in Sinnoh. The two of them were in wrestling masks, and each of them were flexing as they carried a Pokémon each—Crasher Wake, his Floatzel (Raihan told Leon the species name), and Raihan, Gibble, who seemed _delighted _to be carried around. 

The post had been made a few weeks ago, and Leon remembered the call he and Raihan had after the battle. 

_“We went jet-skiing!_” Raihan had cheered, “_And then he taught me how to surf—and wrestle! I had so much fun!_”

“Raihan had a _blast _in Pastoria City.” Leon sighed happily. “I’m glad he’s enjoying himself. I saw the battle, too… his team has never looked better.”

“Must be nice.” Ricki mused. “I went on a journey once when I was little. Didn’t finish the Minor League, though.”

“That’s okay.” Leon chuckled, looking down at his phone. “I know he’s currently taking on the Fighting-type Gym. He’s got a Flying-type, so I’m not particularly worried.” 

“That’s neat.” Ricki lit up, and they looked up when the intercom buzzed to life.

“_Touching down at Derbyton in two,_” their cabbie announced. “_Are we droppin’ off today at the Gym, sir?_”

Leon reached forward to press a button on the dashboard. “Yes, please. Thank you!” he said, and their cab began to descend. Leon shared a smile with his assistant.

“Right,” he huffed, “Let’s have a look at how things are going.”

* * *

“Victor, pay attention!” Bede hissed, elbowing them sharply in the side as they stared off into the distance. “It won’t be long before we completely lose you in this town!”

“To be fair, Derbyton’s a straight line.” Marnie said, inspecting a nearby plaque, rusted over with flaking gold. “If Victor was as abysmal as Leon had been with directions, _then _I’d worry.”

Bede rolled his eyes, and she gave him a wry little grin, before taking the little Champion’s hand in hers. “Hey,” she said, but when they didn’t turn away from where they were looking, she looked over, too.

In the distance, in the verdant rolling hills that surrounded Derbyton, flew a very small Eternatus. By now, it was not that much bigger than a Gyarados, and Marnie raised an eyebrow at it.

“Did you let it out?” She asked, and they finally turned to look at her, grinning wryly.

“_Maaybe._”

“Are you insane?” Bede snapped, crossing his arms. “Almost everyone in Galar saw that thing on the telly—and you’re telling me you’re _fine _with it flying around?”

“It _deserves _to fly around,” the brunet snapped back, and they hesitated, their eyes going wide as their friends blinked at them. They deflated, and they shook their head, running their hand through their hair. “Sorry. I’ve been a bit touchy about it.”

“Clearly.” Bede drawled, as Marnie elbowed him in the side. 

“Has something happened to it?” She asked gently, and they shook their head.

“No, not really.” They replied, “It’s more like… I… I feel like I’m _closer _to it? Somehow?”

“Huh.” Bede and Marnie blinked at them, but when their class moved on, the three teens jumped, and followed suit.

“Beyond this road is the Derbyton Train Yard,” their guide, far in front of the group the three trainers lagged behind, gestured at a charming cobblestone road that led off towards a large building next to the ancient train station. “This is where the oldest carriages in Galar are kept—even the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Carriage is here, the crown jewel of the Hammerlocke collection.”

“Who could be _that _excited about trains?” Marnie mumbled, but she peered at Bede, who seemed to perk up in interest. “Huh. Never mind.”

“Excuse me!” Bede called, and Marnie and the little Champion blinked at him in alarm when he put his hand up. “Is the May Day Carriage here?”

“Oh! Leader Bede, that’s a very interesting question!” Their guide lit up. “Yes, indeed! The Opal Carriage is also part of the Hammerlocke collection here in Derbyton. I’ll make sure we see it.”

“Thank you!” Bede put his hand down, and Marnie and the little Champion blinked at him. “What?”

“I didn’t take you to be the type to be interested in trains.” The little Champion said, and much to their surprise, the blond’s cheeks turned pink.

“I’m not _that _interested in trains.” He mumbled, as they began to walk with their class towards the train yard. “I was… curious about something.”

“The May Day Carriage, huh?” Marnie hummed, and pulled her phone out of her uniform’s skirt pocket, but Bede pressed his hand over her phone. “Hey.” She frowned, but he shook his head.

“Let’s… hear the guide out first.” He said, and Marnie blinked at him owlishly, and then at the little Champion, who finally smiled, as if realising something.

“Sure.” They nodded, and took Marnie by the shoulders. “C’mon, you two, let’s head in before they leave us to freeze out here!”

* * *

I watched my trainer disappear into the old building, and I knew I was free to wander around some more. I love them very dearly—the little Champion that taught me to become smaller, small like my friends, like the sword and shield that nearly killed me so long ago.

Today, the two were with my Champion’s friend, the one they held hands with a lot, as always. I’ve gotten used to playing with them—they are much gentler now, too. The king and the fighter my Champion befriended were still a bit scared of me, but I was scared of them, too, so we haven’t had the chance to play together yet. I was alone, but I wasn’t lonely, not really—not when this time, I could play with the creatures on Earth, and not hurt them. 

I flew over the sky, thinking about what it would be like to make new friends, when I saw a building that was different from others I’d seen before. It was big, and had an open space in the middle, filled with grass and trees. It looked pretty—like the big dragon castle with the tall walls around its town. I went closer to it, and I saw that it had even more creatures—new friends!

They looked so unfamiliar—I’d never seen creatures like them before! 

I flew in from the sky, and they all hurried away from me.

“No, wait,” I began, and my memories from before came rushing back. 

_No, please—_

“Please,” I begged, “I’m not—please don’t—”

“Hey,” a voice said, and I stopped, watching as a fluffy brown creature approached me, floating on top of his tail. I could feel the psychic energy radiating from his little body, and I shrunk away from him with a sob.

“No, please.” I sobbed, curling up, and he looked lost. 

“_Lemons!_” a tinier voice hissed, “Go on! It looks like a Poison-type!”

“Wait!” the creature called, and turned back to me. “Hey. It’s… it’s okay.”

“_It’s not okay!_” the tiny voice screeched, and I looked up to see the floating creature had rolled his big blue eyes. 

“Shut up, Snips!” He shot back, but much to my surprise, he gave me a kind smile. “Hi. Sorry about the annoying Emolga in the trees behind me.” He offered his tiny little paw to me, and I shrunk away from him. “I’m Lemons. You got a name?”

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I can’t—I’ll hurt you.”

“Huh?” Lemons blinked, cocking his head in confusion for a moment, but he steeled his expression, shaking his head as he shut his eyes. “Listen. It’s okay, I promise.”

He reached out for me, and I could feel it—the gentle touch of psychic energy brushing over my head, and I could almost cry at how _kind _it felt. It felt like my Champion’s hand when they petted me, and I couldn’t help but settle down. 

“Yeah. I know you’re scared.” Lemons said, “It’s okay. Are you lost?”

“I just—I want to make… friends.” I replied, and Lemons nodded. 

“Sure, no problem.” He smiled. “I’ll be your friend.”

“But—but you’re so small.”

“Well, I mean,” Lemons laughed wryly, looking off to the side. “You didn’t have to rub it in.”

“I’m sorry.” I hiccupped, and Lemons sighed. “But I’ll—I’ll hurt you. You’re too small.”

“Nah, I’m sorry too.” Lemons replied. “It’s just that—well, my friend’s managed to grow super big. They called it Dynamaxing. I’m kinda jealous.”

I lit up at that. Dynamaxing. 

“I can do that!” I said, and Lemons blinked at me. 

“Uh, yeah,” he said, “My trainer said that you needed a… um… Power Spot? To grow big? Or something?”

I didn’t know what a Power Spot was, but I knew what he meant. I could do that—if I made Lemons big, maybe…

I nodded, and I flew high above Lemons. He looked up at me, his eyes wide as I reached out to the sky—to the atmosphere that tore my body apart. 

“Rain down on me!” I called, feeling power stir in my chest as I let loose a bolt of energy that shot into the sky—

And crashed down on me, snapping off a layer of my burnt scales. As I basked in the glow of energy, I could feel my body melting into the soil beneath me, and I heard Lemons’s scream. It stirred something deep inside my core, and the past began to flood into me as the energy I absorbed from the beam made my body grow.

“Rise!” I howled, flying as fast as I could into the sky, as beneath me, Lemons grew big, and bigger—_and bigger._ “Bend reality to our will!”

* * *

“… And that’s about it!” Sena beamed, and Leon nodded, grinning widely as he looked at the Gym lobby, which was almost brand new. “We’ll get some last few installations, but those are pretty much cosmetic. The newly-hired Gym Trainers start out next week—I’ll be putting them through the ropes to help out in the challenge.” 

“Thank you for your hard work, Sena.” Leon smiled, and the blond laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m sorry there still hasn’t been an update on the Eternabatt for the Power Spot. Have you tried Dynamaxing here lately?”

“Vice Mayor Hay told me not to.” Sena shook his head. “And I gotta agree—if I Dynamaxed anything, I might take out too much Galar Particles from the supply, and the Gym’ll run out of power.” 

“I see.” Leon hummed, nodding. “That’s a good call.” 

“I’ve been practicing in Motostoke instead, with Uncle Kabu.” Sena grinned. “So, I mean, I still _can _Dynamax, I suppose…”

“Leader Sena!” someone called, and Sena jumped.

“Oh, be right back!” He said quickly, and jogged away to talk to a man carrying large planks on his shoulder. Leon watched him with a smile, and when Sena waved the man goodbye with a large grin, an elderly woman interrupted him on his way back to Leon. The older man couldn’t help but smile as Derbyton’s townspeople flocked to Sena, who handled them all with a radiant, sunny smile on his face.

Eventually, Sena made his way back to Leon, huffing fondly as he cocked his head.

“Sorry about that.” He laughed sheepishly. “They’ve kinda made me the unofficial foreman. I’m basically running the place right now, believe it or not.”

He looked Sena over, and chuckled fondly. “You definitely look the part.”

“Oh!” Sena dusted off his baby yellow shirt, light brown denim overalls, work boots, and the bandana he’d tied around his head. “Sorry, I don’t look very dignified right now…”

“No, it’s totally fine!” Leon shook his head, knocking at his own hard hat. “I mean, your staff had me wear this when I walked in.”

“That’s because something could fall and hit you!” Sena huffed, “That’s a big no-no, Mr. Chairman!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Leon laughed, and the two men shared laughter together. “It seems Derbyton’s been treating you better, too.”

“Yeah, well…” Sena smiled, scratching his cheek. “When we got Rudy and Mayor Harry jailed, everyone seemed to… lighten up, you know?” He shrugged, rubbing his arm. “I think I’d saved them from those two horrible guys, and they were really grateful for it.” Sena sighed happily. “Things have been getting better. Vice Mayor Hay is here to help—she’s really nice. Knows a lot about the history of the town, too. She helped us design the Gym’s interior, actually—make it something closer to historical buildings back then.”

“Oh, are you going for a historical theme?” Leon asked, and Sena nodded. 

“For the Gym Challenge, I think I’ll have the Challengers complete a story.” He smiled, and Leon lit up at that. 

“That’s new. Are you a writer?”

“Yeah.” Sena laughed, his cheeks darkening in embarrassment. “I wanted to bring that part of me out into the Gym Challenge, so…”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Leon nodded eagerly. “Good luck, Sena—”

Leon cut himself off with a curse as the ground suddenly shook, and the lights above their heads suddenly blew out. 

“What the—” Sena began, but Leon quickly pulled him under himself as Achilles deployed himself from Leon’s harness, shielding Leon and Sena from falling glass from above their heads. “Mr. Chairman!”

“What’s going on?” Leon barked, straightening up when the last of the glass fell, and he looked around the darkened lobby, sighing in relief when only the lights seemed to have been affected. “Anyone hurt?”

The citizens of Derbyton called their statuses, and Leon blinked at how quickly the able-bodied got to work helping the elderly and the injured. He looked at Sena, who gave him a knowing smile.

“Alola’s used to earthquakes.” He said, “First thing we did was to have disaster management training. It’s the norm back in Alola, and Uncle Kabu thought it would be a good idea.”

“It really is.” Leon grinned, and he and Sena turned at the sound of the doors being thrown open. 

“Boss!” Ricki screamed into the Gym lobby, “We’ve got—we’ve got a big problem!”

Leon and Sena shared surprised looks, before the two of them hurried outside. Leon met up with the panicked Ricki at the door, and he held her shoulders to ground her as they all rushed to the front of the Gym. A familiar, ear-splitting cry rang through the air, and Leon’s heart stopped.

“_Holy shit!_” Sena shouted. “_Lemons?_”

Leon’s eyes widened in horror as a Dynamaxed Alolan Raichu floated confusedly in the sky, looking around in panic as around him, Eternatus flew in delighted loops, crying out in joy. 

“What in the _world _is going on?” Ricki gasped, clinging to her employer as Sena buried his hands in his hair. 

“_Why is Lemons so big?_”

Leon could only stare up at Eternatus, fear causing his blood to go cold in his veins as he watched it grow larger and larger, Dynamax energy flooding the sky above the Derbyton Quarantine Facility. Space began to distort around the Alolan Raichu, who let out a booming cry of fear. Above his head, the sky began to grow dark, and the clouds began to twist into an all-too-familiar ring.

“No.” Leon said faintly, his eyes welling with tears. 

_The Darkest Day is back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will never forgive anipoke for doing what they did to eternatus
> 
> another fun fact, lemons is an XL alolan raichu that's just a weeee bit overweight


	74. A New Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No dogs, no Pokéballs, just you and me. You gave me a gift, buddy, and I intend on using it.” 
> 
> They steadied themself.
> 
> “Do you trust me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY DID YOU KNOW IT'S FLYGON (#330) DAY TODAY MARCH 30 (3/30) !!!!!!!!!!!!

“And here is the May Day carriage—oh!”

The train yard suddenly shook violently, and Bede and the little Champion quickly held onto Marnie to keep her from falling over as the tremors caused the displays to tremble in their glass cases. 

“What’s—what’s going on?” Marnie stammered as the class began to evacuate from the area, the teachers ushering the students out single file through the door. 

“I don’t know, but I—” The little Champion winced, clutching at their chest. “I think—I think it’s got… something to do with Eternatus.”

“I _knew _it!” Bede hissed, and Marnie stepped on his foot. “_Ow!_ What the _hell, _Marnie?”

“_Bede, one must never say such ugly words,_” Marnie said, imitating Opal’s voice, and Bede smacked her upside the head. “Don’t act so brusque, too!”

“You two,” the little Champion winced, and they quickly sobered up, supporting them on their shoulders. “No, I gotta—I need to go see it.” They fished out a Pokéball from their pocket, and nodded at Bede and Marnie. “I’ll head out. Tell Miss Jones where I’ve gone off to.”

“Right.” Marnie nodded, and the brunet hopped out a nearby window, the glass gone after it shattered when the earthquake hit. Luckily, they were on the ground floor, but Marnie couldn’t help but resent the little Champion’s habit of jumping out windows dramatically. “Bede, let’s go.”

“Wait,” Bede said, and Marnie turned to see him climbing over the rope fencing around the May Day carriage. Her eyes widened, and she hurried over to him, yanking at his sweater vest. “Marnie! Let me go!”

“What are you _doing?_” She hissed. 

“I need to find something.” Bede said, pulling his vest away from Marnie’s grip, and leapt down onto the short track that held the carriage. Marnie threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly, and followed after him over the rope fence. The two teens snuck onto the carriage, and Marnie’s eyes widened when she saw the interior. 

The carriage had a dark aquamarine velvet walling, studded with gorgeously blooming fabric flowers from floor to ceiling. The windows of the carriage were gilded, studded with gorgeous whitish gemstones that seemed to sparkle with a fire in them. There was a small vanity off to one side of the carriage, and it had glittering bejeweled perfume and makeup bottles. The mirror was framed with decadent gold that twisted into vines that bore even more fabric flowers. Beside the vanity was a gorgeous teakwood cabinet that was locked shut with a modern padlock, and next to the cabinet was a white upright piano, painted with glowing mushrooms. Across the vanity was a teakwood bookshelf, filled with both books and delicate little porcelain figures of Pokémon and princesses. 

Marnie came to a stop in the middle of the carriage to stare at her surroundings as Bede pushed past her to head further back into the carriage, where a white-wood bed stood next to a deep red couch that had claw feet and well-maintained velvet upholstery. 

“Whoa…” she breathed, and she jumped when Bede began to rifle through the bed. “Hey!”

“I’m looking for something,” he said, and moved on to the couch. “No, not here…” he stopped, and turned to look at Marnie. “If you want us out of here faster, I suggest you help.”

Marnie rolled her eyes, and began to look through the vanity’s drawers. 

“What am I looking for, exactly?” She drawled. 

“A necklace and a ring.” Bede replied. “She said it was in her wedding clutch…”

Marnie raised an eyebrow at that, but began to look for a pouch, like Bede had mentioned. She lit up when she saw a little white bag in one of the drawers. 

“Bede!” She called, and he hurried over, his eyes wide as she lifted the bag. “What’s… what do you…”

“Open it.” He said, and Marnie opened it—only for a slip of paper to fall out. She frowned, turning the bag over and shaking it as Bede picked up the paper. 

“There’s nothin’ here…” she mumbled, and peered at Bede. “What’s it say?”

“_The Brightest Day,_” he replied, scowling. “What in the world does that mean?”

“The opposite of the Darkest Day, maybe?” Marnie ventured, and Bede looked the paper over. 

It looked like a hotel’s stationery, though neither Marnie nor Bede could tell which one—the logo had faded away. Bede peered back at the bag, and hummed. 

“A wedding?” He asked, and Marnie blinked at him. “Some people say that a bride’s happiest day was their wedding day.”

“Huh.” Marnie hummed, crossing her arms. “But what could that mean?”

“Hmm.” Bede frowned, and turned to look at the bookshelf. “I wonder…”

The two teens approached the bookshelf, cocking their heads. 

“Are we looking for a wedding figurine, maybe?” Marnie hummed. “All I see are princesses, though… and their Pokémon.”

“Oh.” Bede breathed, and he reached up to pick up a little porcelain figurine of an unfamiliar Pokémon.

Well, not really unfamiliar—but it certainly looked very different from what they were used to. 

“Is that… a Gardevoir?” Marnie mumbled, as Bede looked the little porcelain Gardevoir over. “Why’s her skirt so big? Is this what you mean by wedding? A Gardevoir in a wedding dress?”

“I’ve heard of this…” he murmured, and turned the little figure over to look at it from the bottom. 

“You peeking up her skirt?” Marnie blurted out, and Bede looked at her flatly as he pointed out a latch on the base of the little figurine. “Oh.”

He rolled his eyes, and gently opened the lid. 

Inside the porcelain Gardevoir’s skirt was a large, round crystal. It sparkled dully in the dim light of the carriage, and the two teens held their breaths as Bede turned the porcelain Gardevoir over to let the gemstone drop into his hand. 

It was a round, white stone with a clear sheen and a little cat’s eye sliver of green and red in the middle. It was mounted on a delicate-looking golden holder, and attached to a sturdy-looking chain. They blinked at it in awe. 

“The necklace.” Marnie breathed, and looked up at the shelf. “But where’s… the ring?”

Her eyes widened when she saw a porcelain Kirlia—it had been next to the Gardevoir in the big skirt. The Kirlia was in mid-pirouette on top of a round base, and Marnie realised that the base was tall. She picked up the Kirlia and turned it over, lighting up when she saw a latch on its bottom, too. 

“Oh!” She quickly opened the latch as Bede looked on, wide-eyed, and the lid swung up to reveal a silver ring, a sparkling rainbow-coloured gem mounted on top of it. “Found it.”

Bede lit up, and he gently plucked it off the Kirlia’s base, looking at it with sparkling stars in his eyes. Marnie looked at him curiously as he put the ring onto his thumb—it was the only finger it could fit on right now, but she knew if Bede grew older, it would fit on his hand nicely.

“So, what’s that?” She asked, and Bede took a Pokéball out of his pocket. 

“Something to help Ophelia and I grow stronger.” He grinned slightly, and Marnie blinked at him as he released his Gardevoir into the carriage. She gave him an elegant bow, and then bowed at Marnie, too. “Ophelia, here.”

Marnie watched as Bede gently put the necklace around her neck, and she touched the stone reverently. 

“How in the _world _did you know this was going to be here?” Marnie asked, as Bede put Ophelia back into her Pokéball when he was done. 

“Opal told me.” He said, “She was really happy to hear I was going to therapy, and after a while, she finally decided that I could learn about the Gardevoirite she’d hidden so long ago.” 

“Garde… what?” Marnie cocked her head at him, and he gave her a smirk.

“You’ll see. Let’s head outside to help Victor out.”

* * *

“Mr. Chairman!” Sena’s panicked shout snapped Leon out of his shocked stupor, and Leon blinked in alarm as he was yanked out of the way of a red Gyarados flying straight towards them. Leon pulled Ricki along with him, and he ushered her onwards to safety as he looked up at the Gyarados in surprise. “It’s the Champ!” Sena said, and Leon’s eyes widened. 

“They’re heading towards Eternatus.” He breathed, and he shakily reached for his belt. “I better—I—”

“Mr. Chairman,” Sena said, “We need to deal with Lemons first.”

“Lemons… right.” Leon nodded shakily, hesitating for a moment to collect himself. “Okay. Sena, do you have his Pokéball?”

Sena shook his head. “It’s at the quarantine facility.”

“R-right, that’s right…” Leon muttered, and Red popped out of his Pokéball, growling insistently. Leon blinked at him, but he shook his head. “No, not today, buddy. Lemons will pulverise you.”

Red groaned sadly, and Leon petted his neck before putting him back into his Pokéball. Leon brought out his Aegislash, and he looked at a fifth Pokéball on his harness. “Of all the days I decide to bring you, huh… let’s go, Pistachio!”

His Dragapult emerged from his Pokéball, yawning lazily as Leon got onto Achilles’s hands, before turning to look at Sena.

“Sena—”

“Sorry, I don’t have anyone that could take me up there,” Sena shook his head. “I mean, Barry can fly, but he definitely can’t carry me up there where the wind is strong. I’ll take care of civilian evacuations here in Derbyton.” He held Leon’s arm, and looked at him pleadingly. “Please. Save Lemons.”

“I will.” Leon nodded, and he nodded at Achilles. “Let’s go.” 

Achilles shot into the sky, Pistachio following him, and Leon looked over his shoulder to see Sena hurry back into the Gym, likely starting on getting everyone out. He nodded to himself, and looked back up at the Dynamaxed Raichu, and the shock of blood red making a beeline for Eternatus.

“Gloria…” He murmured. “What did you _do?_”

* * *

“Eternatus!” The little Champion screamed over the howling of the wind as their Gyarados flew up higher towards the storm that began to build around the oddly-fatter-than-usual Raichu. “Eternatus!”

They could hear what felt like _laughter _in their core—the overwhelming pain of joy rumbling through their ribs in a rattling, agonising quiver of their very soul. Somehow, Eternatus was _happy. _They could feel its emotions coursing through their heart, like they had been blessed by it—

Their eyes widened.

_Legendary blessing._

“Oh, fuck.” They said faintly. “I have a legendary blessing.”

“Gloria!” They jumped at the sound of Leon’s voice cutting through the howling wind, and they turned to see him, struggling through the wind to reach them on his Aegislash.

“Leon!” They gasped, and their Gyarados slowed down to let Leon and his Dragapult catch up with them. 

“What’s going on—what did you do?” Leon gasped, reaching up to tie his hair up to keep it from flying around. “Why is Eternatus angry again?”

“It—it’s not!” They protested, “It’s _happy!_”

“Happy?” Leon echoed, and they nodded. 

“I can feel it—I think—I think I have a legendary blessing from it!” They pressed their hand to their heart. “Maybe that’s why I could make it grow smaller—I’d been absorbing its Galar Particles, so it got smaller and smaller!”

“What?” Leon gasped, and they shook their head wildly.

“Not now! You have to help me—I think Eternatus made a Power Spot in the Derbyton Quarantine Facility!”

“It _made _a Power Spot?” Leon gaped at them, and they nodded. 

“How else would the fat Raichu stay that big for that long with Eternatus nearby?” They called, “There’s a Power Spot down there, and it’s fresh! It’s keeping the fat Raichu big!”

“R-right,” Leon nodded, “I’ll battle it to get it to shrink.”

“I’ll take care of Eternatus.” They replied. “Take care, Leon.”

“You too.” He replied, and they shot apart.

* * *

“What—what did you do to me?” Lemons sounded so _scared,_ I had to calm him down! 

I flew over to him, holding his hands—oh, they were soft and fluffy!—in mine, and I nodded eagerly. 

“I made you just like me! Big!” I cheered, “Now we can be friends! We can play together!”

“Please, put me back!” Lemons pleaded, “I’m going to hurt people! _You’re _going to hurt people!”

No—not again. 

“No!” I screamed, holding tighter onto his hands, and Lemons flinched. “You said you’ll be my friend! I can’t make friends when they’re small, they break!”

“But—”

“No one in this world loves me!” I sobbed, “You said you wanted to become big, so I made you big, _please, just stay with me!_”

“Hey—you’ve got the wrong idea—” Lemons stammered, but he winced as I let out a shriek of despair. Energy flowed into me, making me grow even larger, and the night I woke up underneath the dragon castle came flooding back to me. It was overwhelming—the power I’d summoned was too much, too soon—

_Why does the world hate me so much?_

“Listen!” Lemons shouted, “I have a trainer. His name’s Sena. I love him very much, and he loves me too. If this keeps happening, I may never see him again, so please, buddy—please. You gotta stop!”

_I don’t want to. _

“No!” I screeched, and the energy that overflowed from me shot out of my core in a painful beam of red light, slamming into something far beneath us. “No! I’ve had enough!”

_No one loves me anyway. This world should die. _

“_Eternatus!_” A familiar voice screamed, and my core stopped completely in shock. 

“Champion…?” I breathed.

* * *

Leon’s eyes widened when Eternatus, growing dangerously closer to its Eternamax form, fired a Dynamax Cannon down towards the ground. The beam of red light hit the little Champion and their Gyarados, and Leon gasped when he saw the little Champion reach up towards the dragon, _and absorb the beam into their hand. _

“Eternatus’s legendary blessing.” Leon breathed, and he steeled himself, nodding as he and Achilles charged on upwards towards Lemons’s head. “Lemons!” Leon called, and the Alolan Raichu looked at him, fear in his eyes. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay—just stay calm, and concentrate!”

* * *

The little Champion didn’t really know what to expect when Eternatus fired a Dynamax Cannon at them. All they knew was that somehow, Eternatus’s joy had quickly turned into despair, and they had to _do something. _

Their eyes widened when they saw the entire beam absorb into their hand, and they nodded determinedly to themself. 

“Let’s go!” They spurred their red Gyarados on, pressing their hand to its head, and it grew bigger—but just once, just slightly bigger, as it absorbed some of the Galar particles radiating off the brunet’s skin. The Gyarados flew against the torrent of winds that kicked up, until they were face to face with Eternatus, who had stopped at the sound of the little Champion‘s voice. 

It let out a pitiful-sounding cry, and they hushed it gently, unsteadily getting up onto their feet on top of their massive Gyarados. 

“Shh, hey, it’s okay,” they said gently, and Eternatus whined. “Did you want to make friends with the fat Raichu?”

Eternatus nodded, and they gave it a little smile. 

“Why’d you make a Power Spot, then?” They asked fondly. “Darlin’, we can’t make Power Spots all willy-nilly.” Their Postwick accent came through when they were being particularly affectionate, and Eternatus made a sound akin to a sob. “You can just become smaller. I’ll help you, I promise.”

Eternatus whined again, and they bit their lip. 

“No dogs, no Pokéballs, just you and me. You gave me a gift, buddy, and I intend on using it.” 

They steadied themself.

“Do you trust me?”

Eternatus nodded, and they grinned. 

“Here goes.”

They leapt off their Gyarados, much to its shock, and Eternatus shot forward, allowing the little Champion to fall into its core. The Gyarados let out a terrified howl as Eternatus wrapped its arms around itself, as if hugging the little Champion close to its heart.

* * *

“Oh, _shit!_” Marnie gasped as she and Bede ran out of the train yard, and Bede’s eyes widened. “We gotta—”

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Bede huffed, as he pulled Ophelia’s Pokéball out of his pocket. Marnie held her phone up to capture the massive Raichu, and it pinged pleasantly. 

“_Raichu, Alola Form. The mouse Pokémon. Electric/Psychic type. Raichu manipulates electricity with its mind, and its psychic powers allow it to use its tail as transportation._”

“Psychic.” Marnie hummed, as Bede released Ophelia with a nod. 

“Ophelia knows Shadow Ball.” He said, and she nodded. 

“I don’t have anyone that can fly up that high…” she frowned, and he gave her a grin. 

“Leave this to us.” He said, and he nodded at Ophelia. “Ophelia, Mega Evolve!”

He touched the gemstone of the ring he was holding, and light burst out from it, meeting with light that emerged from Ophelia’s necklace. Marnie shielded her eyes as light enveloped the Gardevoir, and she broke out of the shell of light with a powerful cry. 

“Oh!” Marnie jumped when she opened her eyes. “Wedding dress Gardevoir!”

“Mega Gardevoir, actually.” Bede rolled his eyes. “Ophelia, battle the Raichu with Shadow Ball!”

She nodded, and shot off into the sky. Marnie and Bede watched her go, and the girl snorted derisively. 

“We looked up her skirt.” She said, and Bede elbowed her sharply, but the both of them burst out laughing.

* * *

“Pistachio, one more Shadow Ball!” Leon barked, and the Dragapult shot past him, firing a ball of ghostly energy at Lemons. It barely caused him any damage, and he clicked his tongue as Lemons looked at him pleadingly. “I need more firepower…”

He jumped when a large Shadow Ball came flying at Lemons, knocking him back. Leon looked over his shoulder to see a Gardevoir in a large white skirt shooting up towards him, firing another Shadow Ball at Lemons.

The Raichu let out a cry, falling back, and Leon’s eyes widened.

“Pistachio! Get behind him and push him up with Dragon Breath!” He called, and Pistachio shot off. Leon looked at the Gardevoir, and nodded at her. “Could you—could you help me out?”

She nodded, and steadied herself. 

“Gardevoir, Shadow Ball!” Leon called. “Pistachio, get ready!”

His Dragapult let out a chuff of acknowledgement. 

“Lemons!” The Raichu nodded. “Use Max Lightning on Pistachio!”

Lemons squeezed his eyes shut, and Achilles flew back to keep Leon away from the oncoming bolt of lightning as Lemons was surrounded with a yellow glow. 

“Pistachio, deflect the charge with Thunderbolt!” Leon ordered, and he flinched away as the Gardevoir’s Shadow Ball slammed into Lemons at the same time as his attack shot down towards Pistachio. The Dragapult flew back away from the falling lightning, sending it crashing off to the side with a well-aimed Thunderbolt. 

Lemons let out a cry as he was knocked back, and Leon felt his heart _soar _when he saw Galar Particles getting knocked out of the Raichu. 

“Yes!” He gasped, “Gardevoir, one more Shadow Ball! Pistachio, you too! Lemons, use Max Lightning on the quarantine facility’s lightning conductor!” He called, and Lemons nodded, firing a bolt of electricity down at the highest point of the quarantine facility, where, as Leon said, a tall metal rod stood. 

The Gardevoir and Pistachio’s Shadow Ball attacks landed on Lemons, knocking even more Galar Particles out of him, and Leon took a sharp breath—

When suddenly, something fell onto the Dynamaxed Raichu’s head, and Lemons began to shrink. Leon’s eyes widened as he realised that the little Champion had landed on his head, cuddling into his fur with a wide grin on their face, as above them, Eternantus and their Gyarados began to blow away the Galar Particles that had flown into the sky. Leon watched in awe as Lemons grew smaller and smaller, and he gasped when he realised that the little Champion was going to fall when Lemons grew small enough.

“Pistachio, catch them!” He called, and the Dragapult shot forward just in time as the Raichu returned to his normal size, and the little Champion fell off his head. They looked up at the Dragapult, and grinned widely, nodding in thanks as Leon and his Aegislash approached them. Beside him, the Gardevoir was cloaked in light, and she reverted to the form familiar to them. She looked surprised, and Leon caught her hand before she began to fall. 

“I’ve got you,” he said gently, holding her close to let her stand on Achilles with him, and the little Champion whistled loudly. The Gyarados flew down to let them ride it, and Pistachio approached the Gardevoir to carry her. She nodded her thanks, and Leon looked at Lemons, who seemed shaken, but mostly fine. “C’mere, Lemons.” He reached out for Lemons, and the Raichu floated over to him weakly, before letting him carry him in his arm like a baby. “There we go.” 

“Let’s head down.” The little Champion said, and looked up at Eternatus, who had grown smaller, roughly the same size as the red Gyarados they rode on. Leon nodded, and the two Champions made their way back down to a crowd of cheering people, Sena at the lead, looking up at Leon with sheer _relief _on his face. 

Leon gave him a kind smile, leaping off Achilles to hand Lemons to him gently. 

“You’ll have to return him to the facility, I’m sorry.” He said, and Sena shook his head.

“I know.” He laughed sadly, “But… I wanna take him to the Pokémon Centre myself.”

“Let me through!” They jumped at the sound of Bede’s voice, and Leon blinked at him in surprise when Bede and Marnie made their way through the crowd of both Derbyton’s residents and students—the little Champion’s classmates, Leon realised. “Mr. Chairman?” Bede breathed, and he looked to the side, lighting up when he saw Pistachio lowering the Gardevoir to the ground gracefully. “Ophelia!”

The Gardevoir cooed, hurrying up to Bede to pull him into a hug, and Leon looked at Marnie, who sighed fondly as she crossed her arms, shaking her head. 

“I didn’t know you three would be here today.” Leon said, as the little Champion landed last, jumping off their Gyarados with a pet to its side, before putting it into its Pokéball. Leon put Achilles and Pistachio into their Pokéballs, too. 

“We were on a field trip,” she replied, gesturing at the little Champion. “Have they told you anything about Eternatus yet?”

“I was hoping to keep that private.” Leon said wryly, and he looked at the crowd of people. “Thank you, everyone, the crisis has been averted.”

“Mr. Chairman, is it true that there’s now a Power Spot in the Derbyton quarantine facility?” Someone asked, and Leon’s eyes widened. 

“Well, um…” He began, and the little Champion stood next to him, nodding.

“Yes.” They replied, and looked up at him expectantly.

Leon resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and pushed on. “With this fortuitous discovery, it seems we can move the quarantine facility to run on Galar Particles—it’ll be a wonderful opportunity to save on power costs, and it will be much better for the environment, too.”

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves excitedly, and Leon perked up when he heard what they were saying. 

“_Oh, wasn’t he trying to repeal Dexit?_”

“_He’s well on his way, then!_”

“_I can’t wait to receive my Torchic!_”

“_Now _that’s _a Chairman!_”

“Thank you, everyone, we’d like a moment to have a word with the Champion,” Bede said, and Leon was pulled back into the present to see him and Marnie standing in front of them. “If we could have a moment of privacy, please?” 

“Sorry, Miss Jones! We’ll take a moment.” Marnie called, and Leon saw their teacher shaking her head exasperatedly. 

“League concerns, sorry.” Leon said, and the teens looked up at him. “I’ll make sure they return to class as soon as possible, ma’am.”

“Oh, what a dear one, this lad.” The woman chuckled fondly. “Of course, Mr. Chairman. I’ll leave them in your capable hands.”

“Everyone, it’s time for us to get back to work, too.” Sena spoke up, and Leon looked at him fondly. “Well, I’ll stay to hear this out—I’m a Gym Leader, too, but we’d better get back to checking in on the Gym. Could I ask anyone to stand as foreman while I’m out here?”

The citizens of Derbyton began to chatter amongst themselves, as if arguing on who should step up. Sena sighed exasperatedly, and Leon couldn’t help but smile to himself. He’d been on the receiving end of that kind of attention before—as a young, new Champion, sponsors, fans, and other trainers would flock to him eagerly, as if at his beck and call for anything. Perhaps the novelty of a Gym Leader being in their town was still fresh on their minds—it had been _years _since the Derbyton Gym had been occupied, after all. On top of that, Sena had _saved _these people. He could understand the eagerness.

“I can, Leader Sena!” A tall man who was trying his best to also lift a set of planks raised his hand, striding out of the crowd of quickly protesting citizens, and Sena nodded, smiling sweetly. 

“Thanks, Mr. Eric! I’ll leave it up to you until I get back.”

“Alright, everyone, back in we go!” He called, and the townspeople muttered among themselves as they made their way back into the Gym. Leon looked at Sena, huffing fondly while the three teens snickered knowingly. The blond turned back to them, his cheeks dark with embarrassment. “Okay, okay, get over it.”

“I can’t believe an entire _town _is simping for you.” The little Champion leered, and Bede and Marnie hid grins behind their hands. 

“Yeah, well, get used to it too, kid.” Sena deadpanned, and their leer turned vicious. “I haven’t lost the date war yet.”

“Mr. Peony’s marrying _my _mum, not Leader Kabu—I got to him first, I’ve adopted him as my dad!” They shot back, and Leon blinked at them in alarm.

“Uncle Kabu and Mr. Peony go way back! They have _history!_” Sena retorted.

“I feel like we shouldn’t be here to hear this.” Marnie muttered, and Bede smirked.

“Nah, let them duke it out.” He replied, and Leon shook his head.

“Gloria,” he said, “What happened earlier? What caused Eternatus to go on a rampage?” 

“Oh,” They jumped, and looked up to the sky, where Eternatus remained hovering, out of sight. When it saw them looking at it, it descended, purring sadly as it pushed its head under their hand. The brunette gave it a sad little smile, and petted its head. “I think… it was just trying to make a friend.”

Sena deflated, and he looked at the dozing Lemons in his arms. “Lemons… is a very friendly boy. I’m not surprised at all if he tried to make friends with… um…”

“Eternatus.” The Champion said, and he nodded. “It was really happy, too. I think it made Lemons Dynamax because it wanted to play—by Dynamaxing Lemons, he would be the same size, so… it couldn’t hurt him.”

“Oh…” Sena breathed softly, as Marnie shot Bede a sharp look. The blond flinched, but looked at the ground, rubbing his arm in shame. 

“I see…” Leon hummed, and they rested their cheek against Eternatus’s head. 

“I guess I should explain myself, too. Recently, I’d been suspecting that I have its legendary blessing.”

“Oh!” Marnie lit up. “A legendary blessing. Miss Jones brought that up the other day.” 

“Yeah.” The little Champion nodded. “It got me thinking. Eternatus had been shrinking every now and then, and I realised that it wasn’t because of Hop and whatever the hell he’d been doing with Eternatus and the dogs. It was _me._”

“What, like you absorb Galar Particles or something?” Bede deadpanned, and they nodded. His eyes widened. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.” They replied, holding up their wrist to show them their Dynamax band—it had cracked, splitting with a jagged break, and the container for the Wishing Star that had been mounted on the band had popped, revealing the broken Wishing Star shards inside. “I absorb Galar Particles, and I can release them, too. When I leapt into Eternatus’s core earlier—”

“_You leapt into its core?_” Marnie and Bede gasped.

“—I’d managed to absorb enough Galar Particles to make it shrink.” They continued, “I could tank the Dynamax Cannon earlier—”

“_Tank the Dynamax Cannon?_” Sena blurted out.

“—Because the Dynamax Band had been absorbing some of the particles, too. It broke when I leapt into Eternatus to absorb the rest of the excess energy.”

“What… did you do with the rest?” Leon asked faintly. 

“I discharged it.” They grinned, “That’s what Tempura and Eternatus were fanning away earlier. Then I went to absorb particles from baby-fat Raichu over here.”

“He’s an _Alolan_ Raichu, thank you very much.” Sena huffed, and they snickered a little. 

“Kids,” Leon said flatly, and Sena looked at him incredulously.

“I’m 22!” He huffed.

“_The point is,_” Leon continued, “Let’s not bicker. Gloria, you said earlier that Eternatus made a Power Spot in the quarantine facility. How’d you know that?”

“While I was in the core… I could_ feel _its thoughts. If that makes sense?” They smiled, and Leon’s eyes widened. “It’s… it’s just like a little kid. It just wanted to make friends, to play with others. Lemons apparently wanted to Dynamax, so Eternantus made a Power Spot for him.” They shrugged. “Not its exact words, but I could put two and two together. It was really happy to meet Lemons—the first friendly stranger in a very long time.” 

They sighed fondly, shaking their head. “You raised that Raichu well.”

Sena smiled. “That’s all Lemons, I think. He’s always been a sweetheart.”

“Wait, another thing,” Marnie said, and they turned to look at her. “Bede here needs to explain himself.”

“Ah, that’s right.” The Champion nodded. “Did you get to see the May Day Carriage?”

“Yeah, we snuck in there.” Marnie said flatly, and Sena cocked his head.

“You didn’t need to sneak in, there’s a tour itinerary that’ll let you in there.” He said, and Marnie gaped at him, as Bede smirked behind his hand.

“You—” She turned to look at him. “You tricked me!”

“I didn’t say anything, Marnie.” Bede leered, and Marnie huffed, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. Leon’s smile softened at her—she’d definitely opened up some more, become a livelier girl as she spent more and more time with the little Champion, Hop, and even Bede. Piers would be so _happy _to see her now—but right now, he was in Kalos, this time, and he wouldn’t be back in Galar for another month or so. Still, Leon reminded himself to give Piers a call—Marnie was _thriving,_ and he couldn’t be happier for her.

“Ass.” She huffed, and stepped on his foot again. 

This time, Bede dodged, and cleared his throat, straightening himself up. 

“I kept my promise, Mr. Chairman.” He said, and Leon cocked his head at him. “I’m currently working with Dr. Grana to… as you put it, put myself back together again.” He smiled slightly. “Opal was very happy to hear about it. After a while, she felt it was time for me to find out about the May Day Carriage.”

“The May Day Carriage…” Sena hummed. “Wasn’t that for someone’s wedding?”

“Yes, Opal’s.” Bede nodded, and Marnie and the little Champion blinked in surprise. “Initially, it had been the grand prize of the May Day pageant, held right after the last Galarian war.” 

“Oh…” Marnie breathed.

“After serving in the war, Opal had joined the May Day pageant, and won this carriage. The man who made it came from Derbyton, and he fell in love with her, so the carriage was converted into a wedding carriage.”

“So that’s why it was named the Opal Carriage.” The little Champion said, and Bede nodded. 

“She said she left something in there.” He said, and held Ophelia’s hand to have her stand closer to the front of him. “This necklace, which has a Gardevoirite,” Bede gently lifted the gemstone hanging from the Gardevoir’s neck, “And a Key Stone.”

“Mega Evolution.” Leon breathed, and Bede nodded as Sena, the little Champion, and Marnie lit up in recognition. 

“Yes. At some point, Opal got her hands on these, but she never used a Gardevoir.”

“I can’t help but wonder why she would hide it, though.” Marnie frowned. “Something as precious as that…”

“I’m guessing it has… baggage.” Leon said softly, and they all turned to look at him. “I had a word with Steven Stone not too long ago, and he told me about a Gyaradosite and a Key Stone that had been found at the bottom of a ravine, left there by its owner.”

He shut his eyes, and thought of Lysandre. 

“To leave behind a mark of a bond like that… I think Opal probably lost someone.” Leon smiled at the bewildered teens. “You should just ask her when you get the chance.”

“R-right…” Bede mumbled, and put Ophelia back into her Pokéball. “I’ll… ask.”

“Still, thank you for your help.” Leon nodded. “I wouldn’t have been able to save Lemons without your Mega Gardevoir.”

“You’re welcome.” Bede smirked, and Marnie huffed. 

“So, Leon,” the little Champion said, and he turned to look at them. “I think we just solved your Eternabatt problem.”

Leon’s eyes widened. “_Oh._”

“Oh!” Sena jumped. “You don’t think…”

“I’ve got an idea.” They grinned. “Mind if we met up here tomorrow with Miss Oleana? I think we’ll be able to do something about that dying Power Spot of yours.”

Leon nodded eagerly, and the brunet grinned. 

“Then, it’s settled.” They patted Eternatus. “Step one to Dexit Repeal, done!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reyna voice] and it only took 74 chapters! 
> 
> get ready for the lil champ and sena to constantly be throwing hands to see who gets to have peony as a relative 
> 
> ANYWAY opal's story goes something like this: she served in a very old WW2-esque war at a very young age (she lied about her age upon enlistment) as a military nurse. it's very likely that this is the same war, if not an older one, as the one lt. surge used to serve in. she met another nurse/orderly (probably a kalosian immigrant) who had a gardevoir as a partner, and they worked the wards together. eventually, she fell in love with her, and eventually they were talking about eloping together after the war. however, only opal survived the war, and her gf's gardevoir was left to her (since her gf didn't have a family in galar). unfortunately the gardevoir followed suit after her trainer quickly after that. opal then entered the may day pageant because she's always wanted to, and after being proposed to by this decent young man from derbyton, decides that fine, she can settle with this. and now we're here. bows
> 
> if i ever feel like writing a sad spinoff i may? i've got another spinoff planned for a dark-type ST ^ q ^


	75. The Rainbow Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “In old research done by Macro Cosmos, we found that by splitting the Wishing Star along lines that do not follow the natural cracks, we could see what Eternatus’s scales used to look like. They were iridescent, and shone like rainbows when lit with ultraviolet light.” 
> 
> “Wow.” Leon couldn’t help but smile. “Eternatus had been… beautiful.”

At exactly 8:30 in the morning, Oleana arrived at Derbyton Gym in a Macro Cosmos armoured vehicle, accompanied with a small security detail, and a large mining cart filled with Eternatus’s scales. The cart was covered with a plexiglass dome and was carried around by a Machamp in protective gear, which trotted after Oleana obediently as she strode into the lobby of Derbyton Gym, unmindful of the awed stares she garnered as she made a beeline for Leon, who stood near the receptionist’s desk.

His eyes widened at the sight of the mining cart—he was told they had a surplus of Wishing Stars they had gotten from the Wedgehurst Lab, but he hadn’t realised it was _this much. _

“Stop right there, please.” Oleana said, and the Machamp obediently did as it was told. She turned to look at Leon, and a little smile appeared on her red lips. “Mr. Chairman.”

“Miss Oleana, hi.” Leon said breathlessly, and Ricki hurried up to her to hand her a hard hat. The blonde thanked her graciously, and Leon made a mental note to tease Ricki about her ensuing squee of glee after hurrying away from Oleana. The blonde fixed her long hair, tying it into a low bun, before putting the hard hat on.

“Right.” She said, “I was getting very close to giving up on the Eternabatt. The power outputs are too unpredictable.” She shook her head, and Leon deflated. “That is not your fault, Mr. Chairman. Science is a cruel mistress, after all. You cannot expect to bend all of nature and physical phenomena to your will.” She gave him a little smile, and patted his arm. 

“Thanks.” Leon said gingerly, and she nodded. 

“Well, then. Show me the Gym pitch. We’ll see what this little Champion’s theory can do.”

* * *

Sena stood by himself as he stared in awe at the large, deep hole that had been dug into the middle of his gym pitch since yesterday. Right now, the pit was about six metres deep, just a little more, and they would have reached the optimum seven. He looked up at the sound of the doors hissing open, and he lit up at the sight of Leon and Oleana walking in with Ricki in tow. Oleana’s Machamp brought a covered mining cart in, and Sena hurried over to them. 

“Hi,” he said, “We’re nearly at the 7-metre mark.”

“The citizens of Derbyton move quickly.” Oleana raised an eyebrow, and Sena laughed faintly. 

“Everyone worked throughout the night.” He said. “Guess they’re just as excited as I am to see the Power Spot come back to life.”

“Very well.” Oleana nodded, and gestured at her Machamp. “We can begin burying the Wishing Stars, then. The seven-metre recommendation was an estimate, so perhaps a little under seven metres will do just fine.”

“So, that’s based on how deep the Galar Particle core is, right?” Leon asked, and Oleana nodded. 

“It’s the average depth of the maximum Galar Particle output per Gym. Hammerlocke Gym has the deepest core at 20, but the others have been significantly shallower. The Battle Tower’s Power Spot is exactly a metre below ground.”

Oleana spoke quickly, with an eager little quirk to her lips, and Sena blinked at her for a long moment, while Leon smiled knowingly. 

“I see.” Leon nodded, “So it’ll work even at six or so metres?”

“Theoretically, yes. However, we’re considering the possible damage of Eternatus's Dynamax Cannon and the consequent Galar Particle flooding that may happen consequently. While Galar Particle exposure to Pokémon is generally acceptable—they do not experience significant harm upon exposure, absorption, and repulsion—humans have been found to show Galar Particle allergic reactions, hence the requirement of the Dynamax Band when working with Dynamax.” Oleana stopped, and looked at Leon and Sena. “Ah.”

“No, it’s fine.” Leon chuckled, and Oleana’s cheeks turned pink. “We’ll be viewing this happening inside the VIP viewing box. The walls have been temporarily lined with plexiglass, so hopefully that’ll keep the brunt of the Dynamax Cannon at the minimum.”

“We’ve got medics on standby just in case, too.” Ricki chirped, and Leon nodded.

“Thanks.” He said, and gestured at Sena. “Leader Sena, shall we?”

“R-right.” Sena nodded. “Follow me to the VIP box, please. Does anyone know where the Champion is?”

“They should be on their way.” Leon nodded, and looked up at the sky. “They texted me this morning that they’ll be arriving from the sky—ah, there they are.”

They all looked up to see Eternatus flying overhead, and Oleana nodded. 

“Very well. I’ve been informed that the Champion will be required to stay out here. Do they have protective gear?”

“They don’t need it,” Leon shook his head, and the blonde blinked at him. “They’ve got a legendary blessing from Eternatus. They’ll be fine—Sonia made them a new Dynamax Band, too, so it’ll be absorbing Galar Particles as well, just in case.”

“I see.” Oleana hummed.

“Right, this way, please.” Sena said, and they all followed after him out of the pitch.

* * *

The little Champion looked down at the pit dug into the middle of the pitch, nodding to themself as the last of the Wishing Stars were loaded into the pit. The Machamp that held the cart that held the Wishing Stars hurried away, and when there was no one left on the pitch, they took a deep breath.

“You got this, buddy.” They patted Eternatus’s head, and it let out a small sound of agreement. “Use Dynamax Cannon—but do it a little gently. We’re trying to melt the Wishing Stars in a controlled manner.”

Eternatus took a deep breath, and let loose a beam of red light down towards the pit.

* * *

“Ooh!” Ricki gasped in delight, as Leon watched in awe when the Dynamax Cannon came falling down onto the pit of Wishing Stars. Beside them, Oleana’s team were busy monitoring the energy output, and the state of the Wishing Stars—a camera had been installed on the wide outer rim of the pit, out of reach of the Dynamax Cannon, allowing them to see the Wishing Stars as they were bombarded with Galar Particles. 

“Temperature has spiked to 200 C!” One of the scientists reported, and Oleana nodded, looking at the pit intently. “Galar Particle output at 20%!”

“They’re controlling the energy output.” Oleana murmured, and Leon cocked his head at her. “The Dynamax Cannon is much stronger than this.” She explained, “It seems Champion Victor and Eternatus are controlling the power of the move together.”

“Wow…” Leon breathed. “Their bond… is very strong.”

“Indeed.” Oleana smiled, and together, they continued to watch.

“Outer coating has fallen off. Rainbow scale appearing.” Another scientist reported, and Leon’s eyes widened. 

“Rainbow scale?” Leon asked, and Oleana nodded, gesturing at the monitor showing the live camera feed. 

“Eternatus’s scales are purple, but apparently only because they are covered with a layer of oxidation, likely occurring during its fall from space.” She explained. “In old research done by Macro Cosmos, we found that by splitting the Wishing Star along lines that do not follow the natural cracks, we could see what Eternatus’s scales used to look like. They were iridescent, and shone like rainbows when lit with ultraviolet light.” 

“Wow.” Leon couldn’t help but smile. “Eternatus had been… beautiful.”

“Yes.” Oleana sighed, crossing her arms.

“Why didn’t this piece of information go public?” Leon asked.

“Because…” Oleana gripped her arms, and Leon’s expression softened on her. “The experiments carried out a long time ago, back when you were still a new Champion… had been… fatal.” 

Leon’s blood went cold. 

“I was there to oversee the experiments, as was Mr. Rose, but like we are now, we were behind protective gear. The team that split open the Wishing Stars were… less fortunate.”

“Wait, was this the time part of MC exploded?” Leon gasped, “So many people died that day…”

“Yes.” Oleana said faintly, and Leon’s heart dropped into his gut. “Splitting open the Wishing Stars releases large amounts of Galar Particles. As I said before, Galar Particle exposure to humans without proper protection—the Dynamax Band, at the very least—can cause extreme allergic responses. Anaphylaxis within a minute, though others experienced less extreme symptoms.” Oleana shut her eyes, and Leon held her hand gently when he saw a tear roll down her cheek. “However, as Galar Particles emit large amounts of energy, a large concentration of these particles in a small area may cause… an explosion.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know…” Leon said faintly. “Miss Oleana, I’m so sorry.”

“It was where Mr. Rose got the idea of harvesting Galar Particles for energy.” She said shakily. “The lost lives that day… were… _oh._” She buried her face in her hands, and Leon hugged her one-armed.

“_A worthy sacrifice for the betterment of Galar,_ right?” He murmured, and she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard that somewhere before.” 

“Miss Oleana! The Wishing Stars are melting!” 

Oleana and Leon jerked apart, and they hurried to the video feed to see the Wishing Stars—now a beautiful collection of shimmering rainbows—begin to melt down. Leon lit up as the scales sank deep into the earth, and the ground began to glow red. 

“It’s working!” Leon gasped, as Oleana blinked at it in amazement. “Miss Oleana, it’s—it’s—”

“It’s working.” She breathed, “What an astounding phenomenon…”

Eventually, the scales all melted down into the earth, and when they were gone, one of the scientists pressed a button on their machine. 

“Champion, you can stop firing the cannon now, please.” She said, and as if on cue, the red beam of light in the Gym pitch faded away. The ground remained faintly glowing red, and Leon could see Galar Particles wafting around the area. 

“No one is to go out there just yet.” He said, when a few scientists began to head to the door. “Not until we’re sure it’s completely safe.” 

Oleana smiled at him fondly as he headed to the computer terminal, pressing the same button the scientist had used to talk to the little Champion. 

“Gloria? Could you come down and get rid of the Galar Particles in the area?”

“_Will do, Leon._” They replied, and Eternatus sank down towards the pitch, fanning away the Galar Particles until they floated up into the sky. The little Champion hopped off its back, and some particles gravitated towards them. They ran a few laps around the pitch to absorb as much as they could, and the scientists watched in awe as they did so. Oleana hummed, cocking her head.

“So this is a legendary blessing.” She murmured, and Leon nodded, standing next to her. “I still can’t quite believe it. It would be difficult for science to explain this.”

“Well, I think it’s just love.” Leon said, and she looked at him, her head cocked slightly. He laughed gently, shaking his head. “I’d like to think that Eternatus loves Gloria so much that it gave them its gift to make sure they’re together, always.”

“That’s quite a romantic thought, Mr. Chairman.” Oleana murmured, but she was smiling. “But perhaps… I could believe in that, too.”

* * *

The pit, glowing red, was then filled up relatively easily, and Leon could heave a sigh of relief when the ground was finally patched up. Of course, there was still finishing that was needed on the Gym pitch, but it was over. 

They’d made a Power Spot.

“Time to test it,” Oleana said, and Leon turned to look at her, wide-eyed. “It seems only right, don’t you think, Mr. Chairman?” She asked, cocking her head with a little smile on her lips. “Just to make sure this is a true Power Spot we’ve created.”

“Yes, please!” Sena lit up, and the little Champion grinned.

“I’m up for a battle, too.” They said, and the blond grinned back at them. “Let’s have a battle, Sena!”

“Hell yeah!” He nodded eagerly, and they lit up. “I’ve been _dying _to have a Gigantamax battle with you—but we’re not betting anything on this match, I’m not stupid.”

“I’m not hoping for anything.” The little Champion leered, and Sena couldn’t help but shake his head in fond exasperation. Leon laughed softly at them, and he nodded.

“Okay, fine.” He said, “Gather everyone in Derbyton. I’ll referee.” 

“Ooh, how lucky for us!” The brunette laughed, and Leon pinched them on their cheek, laughing, too. “Mr. Chairman himself, referee!” 

“Easy, Champ,” Sena chuckled, crossing his arms, cocking his head. “We’ll need an audience, too.”

“The town of Derbyton will do,” Oleana said, and she gestured at the stands around them, where much to their surprise, the seats began to fill with eager people. “They’ve been streaming in while we were cleaning up. No doubt Ricki had invited them while we were busy.”

“Oh!” Leon jumped, and he looked at the VIP box to see Ricki speaking with the Vice Mayor of Derbyton. The younger woman was giggling behind her hand as the Vice Mayor nodded knowingly, and they turned to look at him. Ricki gave Leon a wide grin and a thumbs-up, and he laughed softly nodding at her as he gave her a thumbs-up back. “Am I the luckiest Chairman in the world or what?”

“I’d argue that Mr. Rose was luckier, at least in terms of his assistant.” Oleana said delicately, and Leon burst out laughing. Oleana laughed quietly into her hand, too, and he nodded. 

“Can’t argue with that.” He said, patting her arm. “Head off to the VIP box, Oleana. I’ll wrangle these two kids.”

“Take care, Mr. Chairman.” Oleana chuckled, and strode away. Leon looked at Sena and the little Champion, who both grinned at him.

“Okay, play nice.” Leon said, and deployed Achilles. “We’ll start in ten.”

* * *

It’d been so long since Leon had been in the middle of a Gigantamax battle. The last one he had was with Raihan, and it felt like an eternity ago—he’d never found the time nor the motivation to have casual Pokémon battles after throwing himself into work, and now he sorely missed it, flying high over Sena and the little Champion’s heads as Sena’s Pikachu and the little Champion’s Cinderace clashed with powerful moves. 

The Power Spot had worked like a dream—it was running perfectly, and Oleana’s voice in his ear through an earpiece calmly reported the happenings in the energy output of the Gym. It was exactly like the other Gyms in Galar—the power output, while unpredictable, was controlled, with most of it concentrated in the Gigantamax battle that Derbyton had likely never seen live at home. 

Leon could see the stars in the townspeople’s eyes as Sena and the little Champion battled at full force, and he couldn’t help but grin to himself.

Yes, this was what he wanted—to see so many people taken with the wonder of battling as much as he was. 

Like this, he thought, maybe his dream _was _possible.

Maybe Dexit’s repeal was much closer than he thought.

Maybe Raihan’s return is much sooner than he expected.

Leon couldn’t stop smiling as the match went on, until Sena’s Pikachu dropped to the ground, shrinking three times into her regular size, and Leon declared the little Champion’s victory.

“Pikachu is unable to battle!” He called, thrusting his arm at the brunet. “Cinderace wins! The winner of this match is Champion Gloria!”

Despite Sena’s loss, Derbyton’s cheering was raucous, and at the end of the battle, Sena and the little Champion shook hands, and waved at the crowd with cheerful smiles. 

Leon landed behind them, waving delightedly at the crowd, too, and hyperaware of the journalists that had popped up in the crowd during the match. 

_See me, Galar, _Leon thought proudly. _See me, and the storms of change I bring._


	76. A Gift of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _the problem is i dont have a costume rip_
> 
> Leon’s grin widened. 
> 
> _I got you covered._

_A FEW WEEKS LATER_

“_The grand reopening of Spikemuth City is due in the coming weeks, as Chairman Leon and his team at Macro Cosmos seem to have achieved the impossible—creating new Power Spots in both the Derbyton and Spikemuth Gyms. It seems Macro Cosmos is making good on its promise to create a more sustainable Galar, one step at a time, as pro-environment efforts have increased, with more and more companies signing on the Green Galar Initiative, led by Odora, Dowager Duchess of Hammerlocke._”

Leon couldn’t help but grin goofily as he peered at his TV, cuddling with Sandie and Pistachio as the morning news continued with their focus piece. His and Raihan’s Pokémon were—as usual—scattered around the flat, save for Pumpkin, who was still in the Pokémon Centre, being rehabilitated after her surgery. He sipped a mug of tea in his hands, and he peered down at a text from Raihan. 

_LMFAOOOOOO FANTINA WANTS TO THROW HANDS AT A CONTEST TOO_

He laughed softly to himself, shaking his head.

_and that’s after you took out her mega banette? _He replied, and Raihan’s reply returned in seconds.

_Yeah by some miracle lmao i still dont know how i managaed her gym but here we are_

Leon laughed into his hand.

_Good luck. She seems to be serious about contests too._

“_On other news this morning, the conglomerate business Devon Corporation, known for its innovative environmental solutions and the preservation of the Hoenn region’s pristine environmental status, has expressed interest in finally working with Macro Cosmos after a decade of snubbing MC projects. While some Devon stakeholders are concerned still about the state of Galarian environmental laws, primarily the PSEA, Devon Corporation CEO Steven Stone has expressed his trust in the new management of Macro Cosmos._”

“Steven.” Leon lit up, as the news report showed Steven at a press conference. 

“_Yes. I have the utmost faith in the new Chairman of Macro Cosmos._” He said, smiling confidently. “_After the radical, pro-worker changes seen in Macro Cosmos that could be felt from its grassroots to its CEO within its first year of new management, I can say with complete confidence that Chairman Leon is a man who knows what he is doing—the right thing. Therefore, I have no qualms nor reservations in working with him: he is a trustworthy man, and one who does what he believes is best for everyone. The Devon Corporation, moving forward, is open to discussions with Macro Cosmos and the Galarian government for joint projects that will further speed up the Green Galar Initiative, a cause that is close to my heart, as well._” 

“Aw, thanks…” Leon smiled, and Sandie rumbled happily, snuggling against his cheek. Pistachio’s little Dreepies flew into his hair, snickering softly to snuggle with him, too, and Red groaned in protest from where he’d been banished (by _Pistachio_, of all Pokémon) on a Pokémon cushion in front of the couch. “Not now, Red. You’ve had plenty of affection already.”

Red huffed petulantly, and Leon laughed softly, jumping when his phone buzzed. 

_yea lol in a contest fantina would go after me bc of all the ribbons she’s got phew _

Leon lit up, and remembered the white box he’d sent to Sinnoh the other day. 

_When’s the contest? _

_sunday. wallace has been helping me choreo again and this time he didn’t give me a flat look lol the problem is i dont have a costume rip_

Leon’s grin widened. 

_I got you covered._

Leon grinned brightly to himself, as he lay back in his seat, pressing his phone to his heart. “They said it should arrive right now… Steven’s Centurion concierge… I’m counting on you!”

* * *

“Mr. Raihan?” Nurse Joy asked, and Raihan jumped in his seat as he groomed Janus, who squawked in protest at the sudden jolt of his trainer’s hands. “Oh! I’m sorry!”

“Nah, it’s fine!” Raihan laughed, shaking his head as he set his phone down, looking at it worriedly. What the _hell _did Leon mean he had him covered? “What’s up?”

“There’s someone at the lobby who would like to see you.” The redhead smiled, and Raihan cocked his head. He looked at Janus, who cocked his head in curiosity. “She introduced herself as a… Centurion concierge?”

“Centurion?” Raihan stood up. “Did—did Steven do something?” He mumbled, and he shook his head. “Okay, I’ll go see her.” He said, and turned to Janus. “Wanna stay out of your ball for a sec?”

Janus bowed his head, and Raihan nodded, before following Nurse Joy. She led him to a young woman in a black suit sitting on one of the benches in the Hearthome Pokémon Centre’s lobby. She looked up from her phone, lighting up when she saw Raihan, and she got up to give him a bow as Nurse Joy left.

“Duke Raihan.” She greeted, and Raihan gave her an awkward little bow, too, when she straightened up. “I have a package for you.”

“Whoa,” Raihan laughed faintly. “That’s… a _little _scary.” 

She chuckled fondly. “The Centurion service offers only the best of services to our clients.” She said, and gave him another bow. “This package was sent to you by Mr. Stone on behalf of Chairman Leon of Macro Cosmos.”

“Leon?” Raihan gasped, as she handed him the box. “I… whoa. Okay… thanks, miss.”

“You’re welcome.” She nodded, “Thank you as well. I’ll be off, now.”

“Y-yeah.” Raihan nodded, and she gave him a little wave, before striding away. Raihan and Janus looked at each other in alarm, and then down at the large, rectangular box that _Leon _had sent him. “Holy shit. What do you think it is, Janus?”

Janus pecked at the box curiously, and Raihan laughed softly. “Let’s look this over in my room. I’d better text Leon about this…”

* * *

“_—by Macro Cosmos. Last week, interregional environmental evaluators from the United Regions arrived in Galar to survey the state of the ecosystem. They will present their results in the Interregional Ecological Survey Conference next week. Perhaps this may spell the first step for the Chairman’s ambitious goal to repeal the PSEA, and attract more investors to the region. We now turn to our chief economic correspondent—_”

Leon lit up when his phone buzzed. He took his eyes off the TV to look at his phone.

_lee babe what the hell someone from centuiron came over? what did u and steven do wtf_

Leon snickered softly to himself.

_Call me. I want to see this._

* * *

Raihan cocked his eyebrow at his phone, but did as he was told, patching through a call to Leon as Janus gently let the rest of Raihan’s team out of their Pokéballs. Gibble yawned softly as Gooms gently coaxed her to the armchair in front of Raihan’s bed while their trainer dropped himself on to his bed with a curious hum. His phone flew up to let him see Leon grinning at him, his hair up in a messy bun on top of his head. 

“Babe, what the hell is this?” He laughed confusedly, looking down at the box, and Leon snickered. 

“_Open it!_” He urged, and Raihan huffed, but did as he was told. His eyes widened as he pulled the lid away, and his team gasped in delight. 

“Oh, _fuck._” Raihan breathed, feeling his eyes water as he lifted a gorgeous Sandaconda-themed suit in his hands. He could feel the quality of the fabric—Leon didn’t skimp out on the materials, he could feel the silk of the jacket, the delicate satin of the inner lining of his clothes. The Sandaconda’s patterns were beautifully embroidered, likely lovingly by hand, and the golden buttons had the Hammerlocke family crest on it. “_Lee._” 

“_Happy birthday, Raihan._” Leon said warmly, and Raihan gaped at him. “_Well, it’s not your birthday _yet _but I figured I should send it to you before you went up on stage again. I looked up Hearthome City before you reached it, and I found out it had a Contest Hall there. I figured you’d go performing there too—guess I was right._”

“Babe, this is gorgeous, I—I _love_ it.” Raihan breathed, “Where’d you have this made?”

“_Maison de la Reine._” Leon grinned. 

“Miss Bernadette and her team in Hammerlocke U?” Raihan gasped, laughing incredulously.

“_You told me to surprise you, and I remembered how much Sandie liked watching you perform. I figured, this way, he could be there with you, performing._”

Raihan’s eyes welled with tears as he touched the Sandaconda pattern, and Sandie slithered into view of Leon’s camera, hissing happily. 

“Buddy!” he laughed softly, “Look at this! I’m gonna wear this for you, okay? You’d better watch me!”

There was clamour on the other side of the call from Raihan’s team, and Gooms sighed happily, watching as Sandie, Toasty, Rocky, and Patroclus squeezed into view, making Leon laugh out loud as Red roared indignantly in the background. 

“Oh, I miss them so much.” She said dreamily, and Gladiolus nodded. Darude huffed in agreement, fluttering closer to Raihan’s phone to wave at his teammates. 

“Ooh, Daddy’s other Pokémon?” Gibble asked, and Gooms nodded, taking her claw to wave it at the screen. “Hi!”

“_Hello!_” Patroclus greeted, and Gibble waved more enthusiastically. 

“A fire-type.” Janus hummed, and the team turned to look at him. “I believe that perhaps… a fire-type would be most useful to Raihan in the coming battles.” 

“Oh, that’s right—steel and ice types are the only two Gym types left.” Gladiolus hummed. “I used to be capable of a fighting-type move, but…”

“Patroclus would be a really good addition to the team.” Darude sighed. “We could use the firepower.”

“Literally.” Gooms giggled, and Darude flashed her a grin. 

“_Anyway, I bet you’re tired out for the day. You should get some sleep, so you can practice tomorrow._” Leon said, and as if on cue, Raihan yawned. Leon chuckled fondly, and Raihan gave him a grin. 

“Yeah.” He sighed happily. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, babe. Thank you so much, I really mean it.” He looked back down at the suit. “It’s gorgeous. It’ll really be as if Sandie’s right here with me.”

“_Yeah. Goodnight, Rai. I love you._”

“Love you too.” Raihan replied, and Leon hung up. He sighed happily, dropping down to lie in his bed, hugging the suit close to his heart. Gladiolus shook his head fondly, and took the box and suit away from his trainer. 

“It’ll get wrinkly.” Gladiolus said, and Raihan laughed as he sat up, petting Gladiolus’s head. 

“Worried about the wrinkles, huh?” Raihan asked, and Gladiolus nodded. “Thanks, bud. Could you… drape it over the chair?” Raihan yawned. “And… I’ll have it pressed tomorrow morning at a laundromat or something.”

“Get some sleep, Raihan.” Janus murmured, and Raihan gave his Altaria a grin as the dragon gently pushed him to lie back down. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going to bed.” Raihan huffed, cuddling into his sheets. “Sing me to sleep?”

“Spoiled little thing.” Janus huffed fondly, and his teammates laughed softly as he began to gently sing the Dragon’s Lullaby.

* * *

Leon got up from his seat, gently setting Sandie down on the couch with a sigh as he made his way to the balcony of his and Raihan’s flat, taking a deep breath of fresh air as he looked out at the Wyndon skyline. He smiled to himself, tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear as he leaned on the railing of the balcony, watching the Flying Taxis go by. 

“It’s been… a _long _time since I had a peaceful morning like this.” He sighed, and he chuckled fondly when Sandie slithered up beside him, cuddling against his legs. “Hey, Sandie, what’s up?”

The Sandaconda bumped his head against Leon’s calf, and he laughed fondly. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he jumped. It flew from where it had been sitting on the coffee table to press against his ear, picking up the call for him. 

“Hello?”

“_Chairman Leon? This is the Nurse Joy of the Hammerlocke Castle Pokémon Centre. I’m pleased to inform you that Pumpkin is cleared to return home today!_”

“What?” Leon lit up, “R-really?”

“_Yes, she’s done so well with her physical therapy, we’re confident she’ll complete the rest of her recovery without problems at home. That being said, there are still some medicines she needs to take, but they’re all very easy to include in Pokémon food. I know how much you were worried about her, so we did our best to have her home as soon as possible._”

“Oh, thank you so much.” Leon smiled, “Yes, I’ll come over right away. When can I see her?”

“_She’s ready to come home right now,_” Nurse Joy giggled, “_But don’t forget to have breakfast first, sir!_”

“Got it, got it,” Leon laughed, and he headed back into his flat. “I’ll be there at 9.”

* * *

Leon strode into the Hammerlocke Castle Pokémon Centre excitedly, trying his best not to smile too much as his eyes met Nurse Joy’s, who smiled at him happily as he approached. She gave him a bow as he came to a stop at the counter, and she beamed at him when she straightened up.

“Welcome to the Hammerlocke Castle Pokémon Centre, Mr. Chairman. Please follow me—I’ll take you to see Pumpkin.” 

Leon nodded eagerly, and he strode after Nurse Joy to head into the Pokémon hospital, peering into the rooms they passed by to see interns working with other Pokémon in the hospital. Soon, she took him to the Veterinary Paediatrics ward, and Leon lit up when he saw little Pumpkin hobbling around a little play area with other baby Pokémon. A tiny Yamper followed after her, a Joltik or two on its butt, as they headed towards a Growlithe puppy that yawned as it rolled over on a comfortable-looking cushion. 

“She’s recovered really well, and she’s regained a lot of energy after accepting her new haemolymph glands. I think the Rocket Controller had damaged her haemolymph production and distribution—that was why she was lethargic all the time.” Nurse Joy explained as she and Leon stepped into the play area. “We’re confident that she’ll live a much fuller life now—it was a good thing you noticed her chronic fatigue when you did, Mr. Chairman, or we may not have been able to save her.”

“I’m glad,” Leon breathed, and he squatted down. “Pumpkin, it’s me.” He called, and the Trapinch stopped, scuttling around to look up at him. 

“Daddy!” She cheered, hurrying over to him, and Leon laughed delightedly as he picked her up, hugging her warmly. “I’m all better! I’m all better!”

“Oh, you’re okay.” Leon sighed happily, pressing a kiss to her head, “I’m so glad you’re okay…”

“Mhm!” Pumpkin cooed, cuddling with him. 

“Oh,” Nurse Joy sniffled, and Leon smiled at her fondly as he got up onto his feet. She wiped at her eyes delicately with a lace handkerchief, and she nodded. “Pumpkin’s a fighter, Mr. Chairman. Someday, when she’s a Flygon, she’ll be so strong.”

“Yeah.” Leon murmured, and pressed another kiss to Pumpkin’s head. “I’m glad I can take her home now.”

“Oh, I should give you her medicine before you go,” Nurse Joy nodded, and she gestured for Leon to follow her. “Let me just print her prescription out, and you can pick them up at the Poké Mart’s pharmacy in the lobby.”

“Right.” Leon nodded, and followed her out of the play area.

* * *

“Welcome back, Pumpkin!” The flat full of adult Pokémon cheered as Leon left the Trapinch on her usual cushion to start preparing himself lunch. The little Trapinch giggled happily when Patroclus picked her up, lifting her into the air. 

“I’m home!” 

“And so full of energy!” Calanthe cooed, reaching out for her, and Patroclus handed the Trapinch to her gently. “Look at you! You’re not our little sleepyhead anymore!”

“Indeed!” Achilles bobbed in agreement. “You are positively radiant with vitality, little one!”

“Charmingly wide awake!” Charlie cheered, twirling on one foot, earning him delighted giggling and claps from Pumpkin. Calanthe laughed fondly as she rubbed their snouts together.

“I’m wide awake!” Pumpkin cheered. “‘M not sleepy!”

“She says that now, but when she gets warm food in her…” Danny snickered, and Pumpkin spat a mud ball at him. “_Hey!_”

“Don’t argue,” Pistachio said lazily from where he was floating above all their heads, waving his hand vaguely at the two, and his little girls snaked out from his horns to head to Pumpkin. “Girls, don’t cause trouble.”

“_Yesss, Papa._” The girls hissed together, and they wound around Pumpkin cheerfully. “_Pumpkin’ssssss_ home!”

Danny rolled his eyes, and Red chuckled fondly, patting his head kindly as Patroclus took Pumpkin back from Calanthe, rocking her gently. 

“There’s someone who missed you the most.” He said, and she lit up when he lowered her to Sandie, who hissed welcomingly, a little smile on his mouth. 

“Pawpaw!” She cheered, and she cuddled against the old Pokémon, gnashing her jaws in delight. “I missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too,” Sandie said warmly. “Have you been well, my dear?”

“I feel so much better!” Pumpkin chirped, and the Sandaconda chuckled fondly. “I made so many friends, and they were _really _nice, and the pretty lady with the pink hair was kinda scary at first but she helped me feel better!” 

“Oh, look at her,” Calanthe sighed happily, “She’s so lively now.”

“You’re sounding like a mum there, Calanthe.” Red leered, and she glowered at him. Red gave her a cheeky grin, and she huffed, turning her nose up away from him. 

“At least I stayed to take care of my eggs.” She said, and Red gaped at her, as the rest of the team burst out laughing. 

“She’s got a point!” Danny crossed his arms, as Charlie twirled on one foot again.

“Absentee father!” he chirped, and Red whirled around to glower at him.

“I’m gonna roast you alive!” He roared, and Rocky sighed, standing between the snarling Red and the snickering Charlie.

“Okay, break it up.” he said tiredly, and Red and Charlie clung onto the Gigalith as the rest of the teams laughed as they continued to bicker. 

Patroclus, not part of the mess that Red and Charlie were causing, sighed, smiling as he watched Pumpkin and Sandie reunite, the little Trapinch chattering away happily as she cuddled next to the Sandaconda. Achilles floated up next to him, and the two Pokémon were content to stay quiet. 

“Your soul is disquieted, Patroclus.” Achilles said softly, and the Turtonator nodded. “Unload your burden on me?”

“I just… can’t help but think that… maybe…” He shook his head. “No, it’s too macabre.”

“That it is nearly time for Sandie to say goodbye?” Achille asked, and Patroclus flinched, but nodded. “Yes, I suspect the same.”

“Cereus thinks so too. Even Sandie himself, too.” Patroclus hiccupped, and Achilles sighed fondly, leaning on the Turtonator as he began to sob. “I can’t _bear_—I can’t _bear _thinking… what about Pumpkin?” 

“I…” The Aegislash sighed.

“_What about Raihan?_” Patroclus asked shakily, and Achilles jolted, eye widening in realisation. “He’s so far away from home, and when Sandie says goodbye…”

“It is… inevitable.” Achilles said weakly, and the Turtonator smiled at him, holding him close. 

“Could you feel it coming because you’re a Ghost type?” Patroclus asked, and Achilles bobbed in affirmation. “I see… since you’re confirming it…”

“I am truly very sorry,” Achilles murmured, “For you, and everyone on your team.”

“I think… it’ll be okay.” Patroclus said, “After all, Sandie’s lived a long, full life.” 

“Yes.” Achilles sighed, “My only wish is for him to be smiling when the day comes.”

“Me too.”

* * *

Sandie peered at Patroclus and Achilles talking quietly among themselves while the other Pokémon bickered, and he smiled sadly to himself. Pumpkin stopped, cocking her head at him as he straightened up slowly.

“Pawpaw?” She asked, nibbling at his collar, and he laughed softly.

“Oh, look at you.” He said warmly, cuddling into her side. “I cannot be happier to know you will live on.” 

“Huh?” She asked, and he smiled down at her.

“My dear, allow me to give you a gift.” Sandie said, resting his snout on her head gently, and Pumpkin giggled softly. “Something for you to remember me by.”

“Ooh, what is it?” She asked eagerly.

“Something… that embodies the dragon you’ve yet to meet.” He murmured, “And your trainer, whom you love dearly.”


	77. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan loved him dearly, and Sandie loved him dearly. 
> 
> He was thriving, stronger than ever before, and Sandie couldn’t be prouder and happier for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
**CONTENT WARNING: there will be pokemon death in this chapter. someone passes away peacefully, without any problems, and happy, but please take care if this is triggering content for you.**  

> 
> i hope you've got tissues prepared because boy howdy i wrote this chapter weeks ago and it STILL makes me cry.

“Oh, you look absolutely _fantastique, _Raihan! _Si magnifique!_” 

Raihan laughed fondly as Fantina cooed delightedly, hurrying around him to get a look at his suit. The older trainer was in a gorgeous violet number tonight—a slim-fitting dress with a mermaid tail skirt that trailed behind her in an elegant flurry of chiffon and satin. Her dress had a sweetheart neckline that held a beautiful ruby brooch in the middle, and the rest of the dress sparkled with gorgeous Swarovski crystals that would dazzle under the harsh light of the Contest Hall. Her hair was up in something more simple than her usual style—an elegant bun crowned with laurel-like braids, decorated with brilliant diamonds and shining pearls. 

“You look gorgeous too, Fantina.” He replied, but she shook her head, running her white silk-gloved hands over his lapels. 

“_Non, non!_ Look at this appliqué, the golden thread… the _silk!_” She gasped, and Raihan lit up, nodding eagerly as he unbuttoned his coat to let her see the inner lining. “And the _patterned satin! _Oh, I simply _must _know where this was tailored—I wonder if they make gowns, though a suit seems quite appealing as well…”

“The boutique that made this is called Maison de la Reine,” Raihan said, “If you want, I could drop in a word for you—their specialty is historical Galar, but I’m sure the creative team could come up with more numbers like this one.”

“Ooh, historical Galar!” Fantina lit up, “What a beautiful period of fashion… _non, _I do not mind historical dress! I _must _meet this Maison de la Reine…”

“I help the girls there with their theses almost every year.” Raihan chuckled, and Fantina lit up. “They’re actually the Clothing Technology department in Hammerlocke University, it’s where I got my degrees. I could show you there if you’re ever in the area?”

“Oh, _oui, s’il vous plaît!"_ The woman cooed, “Oh, Raihan, you’re a darling!” 

“Just wanted to get their name out there,” He grinned, thumbing at his nose, but he couldn’t help but look at himself in a mirror.

The suit, of course, as always, fit him like a glove. The appliqué sparkled under the lights of the _lobby, _and Raihan couldn’t wait to get on stage to see how it looked in the harsh light of the Contest Hall. He used the pair of coloured brogues he’d used in Eterna, and Steven—through his Centurion concierge, _again_—had gotten him a pair of fine leather gloves from an exclusive artisan all the way in Unova. The gloves came with a note—_just in case Arceus forgot to turn your dragon dial down. Yes, it’s waterproof, I know what you’re like, Mr. Weatherboy. Happy birthday!_—and Raihan couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about it. 

Wallace got him something, too, along with Steven’s gift of gloves, and Raihan tried not to think too hard about the fact that it was _very _likely that Leon, Steven, and Wallace had all worked together somehow for this outfit. Wallace’s present was a small golden brooch in the shape of a serpent, with an emerald eye that reminded Raihan of Sandie’s scales when they shone in the sunlight. He completed the look by sweeping his dreads back into a single ponytail, ensuring his eyeliner was _extra _sharp, just for the hell of it, and his usual pair of studs. 

“Of course, of course.” Fantina nodded. Suddenly, the lights flickered, and the two trainers jumped as they died. “Oh, my.”

“Well, the news said there’d be freak blizzard weather.” Raihan huffed, and Fantina tutted, shaking her head. “Guess this is it, huh?”

“Luckily, the Contest Hall has generators,” Fantina said, and as if on cue, the lights came back on. “Ah, travel will be difficult for the next few days, I’m afraid. You’re stuck here in Hearthome for another day or so, maybe.”

“Well, you can show me around.” Raihan grinned, and she smiled back at him. “We haven’t had our dinner together yet, we both launched right into Contest training after our battle at the Gym.”

“_Oui._” Fantina giggled. “Very well. Tonight, let’s celebrate—whomever it is that wins tonight.”

“You’ve got a deal.” Raihan nodded, and they lit up when a staff member approached them, smiling as they held up a few sheets of plastic wrap. 

“Oh! _Non, non,_ it’s quite alright. I don’t need the protective wrapper for my ribbons.” Fantina said cheerfully.

“I do,” Raihan nodded, and the staff member handed him two sheets. He gave them a grin, and they flushed, giggling nervously. “Thanks.”

“Y-you’re welcome, Mr. Raihan!” They stammered, and hurried away. Fantina giggled behind her hand, holding her free one out at Raihan. 

“My, you’re charming,” She said, “Give me your other ribbon. I will help you wrap it up.”

“Thanks,” Raihan nodded, and they fell quiet for a long, comfortable moment, wrapping up Raihan’s two ribbons in the protective plastic film. When they were done, Fantina pinned the ribbon she wrapped on Raihan’s lapel, smoothing it down with a fond smile. “Man, the last time I did a Contest Spectacular, I ran into a whole world of trouble.”

“Hopefully, not here.” Fantina chuckled, patting his arm, and he laughed softly. “I will watch your performance eagerly. You have a lot of talent within you, and a lot of heart.”

The young man gave her a grin, and she smiled. 

“Well, I better get goin’.” He said, “I still have to psych my girls up for the event, so it’ll take a hot minute for my first-timer baby here.” He gestured at his Pokéball harness, and Fantina nodded.

“Ah, the utterly _charmante petite fille,_” She giggled, “It’s a shame that the shiny Gabite and Garchomp are very similar to their normal colour palette—it would be _magnifique _to see her as a lovely mauve, or even sky blue…”

“She matches my usual jacket.” Raihan grinned, and Fantina nodded, shrugging. “That’s good enough for me.”

“True, true,” She hummed. “May the best performer win, Raihan.” Fantina held her hand out to him, and he nodded, shaking it with a grin.

“Looking forward to seeing you in the Contest Battle.” He replied, and strode away with a little wave at her. She smiled, waving back at him, but when he was gone, Fantina sighed, looking down at her hands as her Drifblim faded into view, resting one of its hands on her shoulders. 

“Oh, Loony,” She sighed, leaning against it, and she cooed softly. “I cannot help but feel like something _terrible _is going to happen.” 

It snuggled against her cheek, and she frowned. 

“Like loss… things will be hard in the coming days, I think.”

* * *

“_In a special twist, this time, the theme for this Contest focuses on the coordinators themselves! Using their partner Pokémon to highlight the bonds between them, can these coordinators showcase _themselves,_ for a change? Let’s find out!_”

“Ooh, what an interesting theme!” Leon lit up, bouncing in his seat as the rest of his and Raihan’s teams gathered around the TV excitedly. “It's always been about Pokémon, this’ll be interesting…”

Pumpkin and Sandie were front and centre, sitting right in front of the TV, cuddled together. Red was sitting next to Leon on the couch, purring contentedly as he napped intermittently, snorting every now and then. Leon laughed at his Charizard gently as he poked his thigh with his foot, and Red huffed, blowing a puff of hot air into Leon’s hair. 

“C’mon, at least show some decency to the other competitors,” Leon chuckled, patting Red’s leg, and the Charizard huffed, sitting up. “That’s it. Good boy.”

“Yeah, have some decency.” Calanthe drawled from where she was sprawled in a queenly manner on her Pokémon cushion. “Who knows, Leon might get into Contests, and we _know _you’ll be the first man up there.”

“Yeah, right,” Red huffed, “I have two left feet. Besides, _you’d _be a better fit for that.”

“Or Charlie.” Danny piped up from where he’d been sitting on the backrest of the couch. 

“Ooh, a dance?” Charlie cooed, twirling on one leg, and Achilles sighed, pressing his hand down on his head to keep him from dancing too much. Next to the Aegislash, Patroclus shook his head fondly, chuckling as he warmed his hands on Toasty’s vent—the Torkoal had fallen asleep, bless his heart, as soon as they had settled down. The exact opposite of Sandie, Toasty had little interest in Raihan’s new endeavours, though Patroclus knew that the big, grumpy Torkoal was happy for Raihan, regardless. Beside him, Rocky was getting close to falling asleep, but only because he’d been awake for a majority of the night before, helping Sandie and Pumpkin out with something Patroclus and the rest of the team didn’t know about. 

Above their heads, Pistachio dozed in the air, lazily flying in a circle around the ceiling fan. His little Dreepies were holding onto a fan blade each, eagerly watching the Contest performances, and making snide comments to each other about each competitor. 

Leon sighed, leaning back in his seat as he smiled down at Sandie and Pumpkin intently watching the other competitors performing. 

“Pumpkin, do you wanna go performing someday?” Leon asked, and the Trapinch turned around to look at him. She nodded eagerly, and Leon gave her a wide grin. “Sorry, I’ve got two left feet, so I don’t think I’ll be able to dance like Raihan does, but I’m sure when you’re a Flygon, Raihan will dance with you. It’d be a nice bonding activity.”

“I wanna!” Pumpkin nodded eagerly. “I’ll use pawpaw’s Scorching Sands he taught me!”

“Hush, leave it a secret from Leon,” Sandie laughed softly, and Pumpkin jumped, pursing her jaws. “They’ll be so proud of you, my dear little Pumpkin.”

“You think?” She cooed, and Sandie nodded.

“They’ll be just as proud as I am of you—and I am so _very _proud of you.” He said, snuggling close to her, and Pumpkin giggled happily. “Ah… I’m so tired.”

“_Noo, _you can’t sleep!” Pumpkin whined, “Papa’s wearing the clothes that look like you!”

“Yes,” Sandie chuckled, “I would never miss that for the world.”

* * *

Fantina was waiting by the door to the side stage, and Raihan lit up as their gazes met. She gave him a wide grin, and beckoned him closer. 

“I will watch you closely, Raihan,” she said, “I want to see with my own eyes this _je ne sais quoi_ you have about you.” Fantina gave him a wink, and he laughed softly into his hand.

“I’ll do my best.” He gave her a bow, and she tucked a stray dreadlock behind Raihan’s ear. 

“Perform with all your heart.” Fantina murmured, and Raihan blinked at her. “This contest theme, after all, is about _you, _for a change.”

Raihan grinned, and gestured at himself, at the suit he was wearing, and Fantina’s smile softened on him.

“Not just me.” He said, and patted his girls’ Pokéballs. “_All _of us.”

“Of course.” She nodded, and he strode past her with a determined nod. 

“_Ladies and gentlemen, with two Contest Ribbons, it’s Raihan of Hammerlocke City!_”

Music began to play, and Raihan strode onto the darkened stage, stopping at a chair set up near the middle area of the back wall to take a deep breath for a moment. 

“Sandie… I hope you’re watching, bud.” He murmured, and took a seat, crossing his leg over the other in a slow, sensual arc that he _knew _the audience could see as a moving silhouette in the shadows. The mere movement of his leg earned him eager cheering from the crowd, and Raihan rested his hands on his knees, grinning knowingly as the music’s beat dropped, and the spotlight finally shone on him. 

The Contest Hall burst into cheers as Raihan appeared, and as expected—the appliqué on his suit sparkled beautifully under the harsh lights. He winked at the audience, blowing them a kiss, and the crowd went wild as he swung his legs around, spinning up onto his feet as picked up Gooms and Gibble’s Pokéballs from his belt harness, tossing the two Pokéballs into the air.

Gooms emerged in a shower of bolts of electricity, while Gibble twirled as she emerged, spreading a shower of sparkling yellow stars around herself. The two dragons landed at the same time, straightening up with arms raised at the cheering crowd before they gave them twin curtseys.

“Girls, let’s go!” Raihan called, turning as he moved forward to stand between them, and the crowd began to clap along with the music as he reached out to hold Gooms’s paw, and Gibble’s claw. He turned the both of them, and held onto Gibble as Gooms leapt forward. “Rain Dance!”

Gooms began to dance off towards the side as clouds gathered above them, and Raihan gave Gibble a gentlemanly bow. She cooed happily, reaching forward to let him hold her claw again, and they strode through the rain, grinning at each other. 

“Sandstorm!” He called, letting her go, spinning on one foot over the slippery stage as Gibble reared up, summoning a sandstorm that began to blow Gooms’s rain away. “Gooms, Sludge Bomb!”

Gooms fired goo from her body to the ground near Raihan’s feet, and the audience gasped as the rain faded away into a mild sandstorm, the wind blowing Raihan’s dreads out of its tie, tousling his hair handsomely. Raihan stepped on the goo, and he grinned as he slid forward towards the edge of the stage, earning him shouts of alarm—

“Gibble!” He called, and the Gabite shot forward, made faster by the sandstorm, to reach out to his hand, letting him grab her claw before he fell off, hanging off the edge of the stage, looking right into a camera. He gave it a wink, and the crowd went _wild _at the sight of it on the large screen behind him. Raihan turned around, letting Gibble spin him as made his way to Gooms, who caught him and dipped him. 

“Swords Dance!” He called, and it was Gibble’s turn to dance, roaring powerfully as she honed her claws and stomped her feet in a rhythmic dance that made the audience gasp in awe. Raihan grinned as he leaned back into a backflip, nodding at his Goodra. “Gooms, Surf!”

The Goodra fired a wave of water just as Gibble leapt up onto the air with a spinning kick. Raihan sprang up in her line of fire, and the audience gasped as Raihan caught her foot. His eyes thinned into slits as his draconic strength let him lift Gibble into the air, who struck a powerful pose above Raihan. “Dragon Breath!” 

Raihan reached out for Gooms, and she took his hand, pulling him aside as Raihan pushed Gibble upwards, letting the Gabite leap into the air as she set off a pulse of draconic rage into the air.

“Follow it up with a Sandstorm!” He called, and Gibble summoned another weak sandstorm as she landed, and he took her claw as he nodded at Gooms. “Thunder!” 

The Goodra faced the back, summoning a bolt of lightning that struck all the sand in the air, spreading it around in an eye-catching dazzle as Raihan, Gooms, and Gibble stood together in the middle of the stage. The crowd burst into raucous applause as the sand and electricity dropped to the ground, and Raihan grinned at his dragons, raising his hands that held a paw and a claw in each. 

“I dedicate this to my team back at home!” he yelled, his eyes thinned into draconic slits. “I miss you all _so much! _I can’t wait to see you all again—I love you, guys! Rocky, Toasty, Patroclus, and,” he patted the appliqué on his suit, “Sandie! This one’s especially for you!”

* * *

Raihan was radiant, wearing his scales, standing proud in a sandstorm, as he had first met him. Sandie shut his eyes, and he could see it—that sandstorm in the Isle of Armour, the dragon’s eyes that drew him close to the dragon in a little boy’s body.

Oh, had he been a Silicobra when they first met…

Ah, but he supposed, even with this, Sandie was content. 

Raihan loved him dearly, and Sandie loved him dearly. 

He was thriving, stronger than ever before, and Sandie couldn’t be prouder and happier for him.

He could still feel Pumpkin’s warmth next to him. The joy of Leon and the other Pokémon behind him, cheering after yet another one of Raihan's stunning performances, and Sandie decided that yes, he was content.

“Thank you, Raihan. I love you so much.”

* * *

Achilles abruptly stopped, his eye going wide, and Patroclus noticed, jerking in alarm as his friend dropped down to the ground, looking at the floor with disbelief in his eyes.

“Achilles?” He asked, gently holding Achilles by his shield. “Achilles. What’s the matter?”

“Oh…” The Aegislash’s eye filled with a large silver teardrop, and it fell into a dark violet vapour that disappeared into the air. “_Oh…_”

“Achilles.” Patroclus’s eyes widened, though realisation was sinking into his heart, pain overflowing from it to spill from his eyes. “_Achilles._”

“I… oh, heavens…” Achilles could hear the beating of phantom wings, and he could see the flap of blood-red and black phantom wings as he turned to look near the TV. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear.”

Above their heads, Pistachio jerked awake, and his little girls flew into his horns, whimpering sadly. 

“Oh, girls…” he said, and looked down at Achilles, who met his gaze. “Achilles… is that…”

“Yes.” The Aegislash said sadly. “Yveltal… has paid us a visit.”

* * *

“Pawpaw, Papa was _so cool! _I wanna see him keep dancing, he looked so good in the clothes that look like you!” Pumpkin cheered, and she looked at Sandie. “Pawpaw?” She cocked her head, “Are you sleepy again?”

“Achilles?” Leon jumped, and the little Trapinch jumped, whirling around to see her trainer hurry to his Aegislash, thumbing away at the silver tears that fell from the Aegislash’s eye. “Oh, shit, what’s wrong? Buddy, what happened?”

Achilles wrapped his hand around Leon’s wrist, and led him to Sandie. Leon blinked in confusion as Pumpkin stood back away from the Sandaconda, feeling tears well in her eyes as Achilles pressed Leon’s hand to Sandie’s neck collar.

“What’s—what’s wrong with Sandie?” Leon stopped, and his eyes widened. “He’s… not… oh, _Arceus._”

Leon’s eyes welled with tears as he quickly ushered Pumpkin away from Sandie’s side, and the little Trapinch gnashed her jaws in protest.

“Wait, Daddy! What’s wrong with pawpaw?” She asked, but Red picked her up, shaking his head as he looked down at her, pity in his eyes. “Red, what’s—”

“Sandie’s… gone to sleep.” He said, and Pumpkin’s heart ached at how _sad _he sounded. “I’m sorry, Pumpkin. He… can’t wake up anymore.”

“But why?” Pumpkin asked, her voice cracking. “Wh-_why?_”

“Oh, Sandie…” Leon sobbed quietly, draping himself over the Sandaconda. “Oh, Raihan…”

“It was a long time coming.” Red murmured, and hugged Pumpkin close. “I’m sorry, but it was time for him to rest.”

“But…” Pumpkin said faintly, as Leon pulled himself onto his feet shakily, reaching for his Rotom Phone. “Daddy…?”

“Hello, Nurse Joy?” Leon asked, his voice trembling as the call patched through. “Yeah, hi. I’m sorry… I… I have an emergency. I have a Sandaconda that’s… not breathing.” He said, pained, “Yes. Yes. No Pokéball, gotcha. You’ll be—five? Yes. Thank you.”

Red sniffled, and he looked at the TV, taking a shuddering breath.

“Gladiolus… buddy, I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear i didn't intend for this to coincide with... _another_ death in the news rn lmfao


	78. Mourning and Bereavement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’d prepared for this.”
> 
> “Yes. But no one could ever truly be ready to feel the sting of loss. It’s different, every time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content warning:** we're still dealing with Sandie's loss, pals, so warnings are par for the course. If pokemon/animal death is triggering content to you, please exercise caution.

“Ribbon number three, baby!” Raihan beamed proudly, and Gladiolus couldn’t help but smile widely, nodding as Gooms and Gibble danced together, holding each other’s hands while Darude laughed happily, flapping his wings excitedly. Janus nodded approvingly, too, and next to him, Fantina’s Drifblim cooed, spinning in the air.

“We did it! We did it!” Gibble cheered, and Gooms nodded, taking Darude’s claws in hers as the three dragons danced together in a circle. 

“It was totally amazing!” Loony said airily, flapping her arms as she joined the dragons in their circle, “Gibble, you’re a wonderful battler!”

“Thank you!” Gibble giggled, as Raihan tucked away his new ribbon in his case. 

“Oh, man.” Raihan laughed, shaking his head as he dusted off some more sand off his suit. “They really made this suit to be pretty tough, huh? I bet this was Miss Bernadette’s work…”

“You know the ladies working there personally?” Fantina asked, and Raihan nodded.

“Yeah, I—huh?” Raihan jumped, and Fantina cocked her head as Raihan’s Rotom Phone came shooting out of his bag. “Rotom! Bud, what’s up?”

“_Incoming call from Leon!_” It chirped, and Raihan lit up, looking at Fantina, who nodded eagerly as he picked up. 

“Babe!” Raihan cheered, “Did you see—”

“_Raihan,_” Leon’s teary face was on his screen, and Raihan’s smile dropped off his face when he realised Leon was in just a t-shirt and shorts, in what looked like a ward in the Pokémon hospital in a Pokémon Centre. Raihan’s heart shot to his throat, and his eyes widened. “_Raihan—oh, Arceus, I…_”

“Lee,” Raihan breathed, “C-calm down. What’s—what happened? What’s wrong?”

Fantina’s eyes widened, and she met her Drifblim’s gaze.

“Oh, _non…_” She breathed.

“_R-Rai, I’m so sorry, but—I decided to wait until after your Contest to tell you, I had hoped—I—_” Leon broke off into a sob, and Raihan’s expression fell. 

“Leon,” He said gently, though he could feel dread rising in his throat. “Take deep breaths. I’m right here. Tell me what happened—is it—is it Pumpkin? Is she—”

“_No,_” Leon shook his head, “_It’s Sandie._”

Raihan’s blood went cold. “S-Sandie?” He asked faintly.

“_He’s—he’s passed away._” Leon managed to say, and Raihan’s eyes filled with tears. “_We were—we were—watching. Your performance together. All of us, even Toasty. He’d been sitting in front of the TV with P-P-Pumpkin, and he j-just fell asleep right when you finished dancing… Achilles—Achilles and Pistachio noticed immediately. They just—they just _knew._ Achilles told me to feel Sandie a-and he wasn’t b-breathing anymore._” Leon was starting to dissolve into sobs again, and Raihan jumped when he felt Fantina stand close to him, pulling him into a one-armed hug, hushing him gently as she handed him a tissue. 

“He’s…” He said faintly. “My.... Sandie.”

“_I had—I had hoped that he’d just… he could still… he wasn’t…_” Leon wiped at his eyes. “_I called Nurse Joy. I hoped… I hoped they could still revive him, but…_”

“Oh…” Raihan let out a sob, and Fantina rubbed his back comfortingly. “Oh, Lee… he’s…”

“_I’m so sorry, Rai._” Leon said, “_I… you needed to know as soon as possible._”

“Y-yeah.” Raihan sniffled, wiping at his eyes, and his team looked at each other, the mood completely turned sombre as he nodded. “O-okay. Did you take him to… to the Hammerlocke Pokémon Centre?”

“_Yeah. I figured… since this was where you had him checked up regularly._”

“Th-that’s great.” Raihan nodded, and he sniffled again. “O-okay. Okay… um.” He ran his hand through his dreads, and Fantina rubbed his back again.

“That’s it, take a deep breath.” She said softly, and Raihan took a shuddering breath.

“Contact Villea. She’s… she knows about the funeral plan for Sandie.” 

“_What?_” Leon blinked, and Raihan gave him a sad smile. “_You… you were ready._”

“It was… only a matter of time.” He said quietly. “I have… bereavement plans for everyone, even my team here. We’ve… lost quite a few already, after all.”

“_Oh…_” Leon deflated, and he nodded, taking a shaky breath. “_Got it. I’ll get in touch with Villea._” He gave Raihan a sheepish little smile, and Raihan couldn’t help but smile sadly back at him. “_I’m so glad you’re way more level-headed about this than I am._” He laughed weakly, wiping at his eyes. “_The last time I’ve had to deal with a Pokémon passing away like this… oh, it was so long ago. It was a little Wooloo…_” He shook his head. “_Thanks, Rai. I’ll… I’ll get to work on it. Do you… do you wanna…_”

“Yeah, I’ll be there via call, if the blizzard out here will let me.” Raihan nodded. “Even if I’m… all the way here. I want to… say goodbye. I’m sure my team wants to, too.”

“_Right. I’ll call you when I’ve got updates._” Leon sounded so much calmer now, and Fantina smiled in relief.

“You’re gonna be _real _busy dealing with this, though. I’m sorry if this’ll take any time out of your schedule.” Raihan sighed, but Leon shook his head.

“_It’s the least I can do. Work can wait. You just lost one of your Pokémon partners, and I want to support you through it._” Raihan gave him a weak little smile as Leon sobered up. “_I’m sorry for your loss, Raihan. I love you._”

“L-love you too.” Raihan said faintly. “I’ll see you again.”

Leon nodded, and hung up. Fantina stood there for a long moment, watching Raihan carefully, as his team slowly inched towards him. Gladiolus held Raihan’s hand, and the young man looked at him, and then up at Fantina.

“Raihan?” She asked softly, and Raihan sniffled, his eyes filling with tears. Oh, she’d seen that face before—on people working so hard to hold their tears back. Fantina smiled fondly, and she pulled the younger trainer into a hug with a soft sigh. “Oh, _mon cher,_ it’s okay. Let it out.”

“I…” Raihan clung onto her, and Fantina winced at the tightness of his grip, but she didn’t pull away. “I’m—I… _Sandie._”

“Was he a partner, too?” She asked, soothingly rubbing his back, and he nodded. 

“I… when we met, he was already… at his final evolutionary stage. I was… 13.”

“So many years ago.” Fantina hummed.

“Y-yeah, I… I knew it was coming, but…” Raihan let out a small sob. “I didn’t—I didn’t think… he’d say goodbye when… I couldn’t.”

Fantina felt her eyes prickling, and she nodded, pulling away from the young dragon as he looked at her with such _pain _in his eyes. 

“And—and with the freak blizzard in the area, I… I can’t fly back to Galar in time to say goodbye in person.” He sniffled, and Gooms whined sadly, hugging him. He held her, looking just about ready to cry, and Fantina sighed. 

“That’s true…” She nodded, as Darude shot forward to bury his face in the crook of Raihan’s neck, and finally, a few tears rolled down his cheeks at the sound of his Flygon’s whining cries. 

“I just—I can’t believe he’s…_ gone._” Raihan croaked, and Gladiolus strode up into the little space between Darude and Gooms, and he sagged against his oldest friend. “He’s gone. Sandie’s gone, and I couldn’t even—couldn’t—I couldn’t say goodbye. Gladiolus, _holy shit, _Sandie’s gone.”

Raihan finally burst into tears, clinging onto his Duraludon, and Fantina sighed in relief as he sagged against the steel dragon. 

“I’ll—I’ll never get to… he’ll never be able to battle again… he won’t be able to hang out with everyone…” He sobbed, “He’s gone… j-just like that.”

Fantina hushed him gently, kneeling down beside him, rubbing his back.

“Raihan, your beloved friend is never truly gone.” She said gently, and he looked up at her. Her heart swelled at the sight of his running eyeliner, looking like a total mess, and she shook her head, reaching into her clutch to get a piece of tissue. “It may be… _cliché _of me to say it, but it’s true.”

Gently, Gladiolus held Raihan up to let Fantina wipe his tears and smeared makeup away. 

“From the sound of it, you’ve treasured him for a long time. Even I could see it, in the way your eyes looked as you held yourself together as hard as you could, for your beau’s sake.” 

Raihan sniffled, nodding as Gooms and Darude snuggled with him, whining sadly. 

“Your team loves him dearly too.” Fantina smiled, cupping Raihan’s cheek in her hand. “He passed away peacefully in his sleep, watching you dance your heart out in a routine that honoured how much you love him. I’m sure that his final thoughts were of you—and that he’d been content and peaceful, when it was his time.”

“I…” Raihan sniffled, “I wasn’t there for him.”

Fantina shook her head. 

“Not all forms of love are physically tangible, Raihan.” She murmured, “He’s felt your love, in your care, in the way you brought him with you on stage, even though you’re so far away from him. Everyone knows it—you love him dearly, and I’m sure he did, too. That’s what matters.”

Raihan looked down at the ground.

“I…” He shut his eyes, taking a shuddering breath. “I’d prepared for this.”

“Yes.” She nodded, “But no one could ever truly be ready to feel the sting of loss. It’s different, every time.” 

Gently, Fantina helped Raihan onto his feet, and she gave him a kind smile as his dragons continued to cling to him, all whining sadly. 

“It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel sad, to mourn. Death is a permanent change you deal with for the rest of your life. What matters is that you do not let it consume you.” She shut her eyes, sighing fondly, and she nodded. “Would you like to come to the Lost Tower with me?”

“Th-the what?” Raihan asked, and she looked at him with a little smile on her lips. 

“It’s a Pokémon graveyard. I go there frequently, as someone who trains with Ghost-type Pokémon.” Loony floated over to her, cuddling her cheek, and she laughed softly. “After Sandie’s burial, let’s go to the Lost Tower and pray there.”

“I’m… I’m not particularly religious.” Raihan mumbled, and she shrugged.

“Then at the very least, may you find comfort there.” Fantina smiled. “It’s quiet there, a good place to think, and I’d like to think that graveyards bring you closer to those who’ve passed away—perhaps Yveltal may even carry your wishes on its wings to the beyond.” 

Raihan blinked at her, and he eventually smiled.

“You know what, sure.” He nodded. “I’ll… I’ll take what I can get.”

“Let’s hope the blizzard dissipates until then.” She chuckled, and Raihan finally laughed, nodding as he wiped at his eyes. “For now, let’s have dinner. Of course, you need to mourn, but you must take care of yourself as well. Sandie’s loss is painful, but it shouldn’t overshadow everything.” 

“Don’t let it consume me.” Raihan murmured. “There’s… nothing else I can really do.”

“Your beau can handle it.” Fantina nodded. “After all, you’ve given him the strength to do so.”

He gave her a tired little smile, and he looked at his dragons. 

“Hey, guys.” He said gently, and Gooms and Darude cuddled against him again. Gladiolus looked at him sadly, and he nodded. “I know. It… hurts, doesn’t it?”

Gibble and Janus stood off behind the three older dragons, looking at them worriedly, and Raihan gave them a kind smile. 

“Sorry, you two. Looks like… you’ll never… get to meet him.”

“From what I’ve heard over the calls, he was very kind.” Gibble said, and Janus gently rested his cottony wing on her head. “I’m… sad.”

“As am I.” He said, and felt his own eyes prickling as the dragons held each other in comfort. “However, this is not our place to mingle. Let us allow them to mourn.”

“But…” Gibble began, but Janus shook his head. 

“We cannot ever begin to understand the meaning of Sandie’s loss.” He said, “It’s best we do not inject ourselves into the narrative, unless invited.” Gladiolus looked at him, and their gazes met. Janus smiled a little at him, and Gladiolus nodded, turning back to his trainer and his fellow dragons. “Be strong, Gibble. We are to be their only sources of joy, for a time.”

“R-right.” The Gabite nodded. “I’ll do my best, for everyone.”

“Very well.” Janus lowered his head, and Loony sighed.

“All of you are so good for each other.” She said, and Janus gave her a bow. 

“Dragons protect each other, after all.” He said, watching as Raihan finally pulled away from his dragons, nodding as he pressed kisses to their heads. “This is how we remain steadfast.”

“Janus, let’s go.” Raihan said gently, and Janus lowered his head, allowing his trainer to put him back into his Pokéball, and Loony nodded to herself as Fantina approached her, petting her gently. 

“We’ll need to support them too, Loony,” She said, “Could you let me know if Yveltal will be there to hear us when we go?”

“I’ll try.” Loony bobbed to say yes, and her trainer smiled, pressing a kiss to her balloon.

“_Merci_, darling_._” She hummed, and held her Pokéball up. “Back in you go.”

The Drifblim bobbed in a little curtsey, and put herself back into her Pokéball. Fantina sighed, and turned to look back at Raihan, who had sunk to the floor, holding his Duraludon’s hand. The dragon, it seemed, had refused to come into his Pokéball, and Fantina smiled fondly as she and Gladiolus helped Raihan back onto his feet. 

“Let’s get you something warm.” She said. “I know a lovely ramen place nearby.”

Raihan gave her a tired smile as she helped him sit on Gladiolus’s tail, the dragon seemingly unaffected by the weight of his trainer on his tail. 

“Yeah, that… that sounds nice.”

* * *

The last time Leon sorted out resources for a Pokémon funeral… was never, if he thought about it. Before he was Champion, when his family lost a Wooloo or a Dubwool, the adults of the family would take care of it. Leon had only ever experienced the loss of the Wooloo in his life—he’d never had the chance to lose anything in this manner, and so, he deemed it only right that at Sandie’s funeral, he would cry until he couldn’t anymore. He’d lost a whole night of sleep sorting all of this out—apparently, unlike humans, Pokémon were typically buried within 24 hours after passing away, so Leon stayed with Sandie for a good part of it, watching as the Sandaconda was cremated, and then reverently transferred to his final resting vessel, a beautiful ceramic jar that had already been prepared in Hammerlocke Castle.

All those tears weren’t just for himself, really—they were for Raihan, as well, who could only watch through his phone, his voice—made tinny by Leon’s phone’s tiny speakers and broken up by the poor signal from the blizzard that surrounded his hotel—calmly and quietly saying his goodbyes, before Gladiolus, Gooms, and Darude followed suit. It’d been _painful—_like a glass shard had buried itself into his chest as Sandie’s beautiful, snake-patterned urn was reverently set down in a shelf, surrounded by desert flowers—cereus flowers, Raihan had specified—and Leon felt like crying all over again just thinking about it. 

Hop was with him, and Ricki, too, the two of them dressed in the same black as Leon was, solemnly standing in front of the little shelf as Hammerlocke staff strode away, leaving only Odora and Villea behind. Leon’s phone flew back to him, and he looked tearfully up at Raihan, who had red, puffy eyes like he did, while behind him, he could see Gooms and Gibble cuddling together, while Darude had his head buried underneath Raihan’s room’s pillows. Only Gladiolus and Janus remained by Raihan’s side, and Raihan was holding onto Gladiolus’s hand as he sniffled sadly. 

“Rai.” Leon said, and he was almost surprised at how _hoarse _his voice sounded. 

“_Lee._” Raihan mumbled. “_Man. I wish I could hug you. You look like an awful mess._”

“Love you too.” Leon laughed brokenly, but more tears spilled from his eyes. Ricki gasped softly, and quickly fished out a tissue from her purse while Hop rubbed his back. “Th-thanks.” He said gingerly, taking the tissue from his assistant while Raihan roughly wiped at his eyes with the back of his wrist. 

“_I probably look like shit, too._” Raihan grumbled. “_Fuck, that hurt._”

“Oh, Raihan,” Odora sighed, and Raihan lit up as Leon’s phone turned to let him see his mother. “Darling, hello. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“_Mum,_” Raihan’s voice quivered, “_I—I guess… it was just, well… a matter of time._”

“Yes, it was.” Villea bowed her head. “Though for Cereus to outlive his old friend… I’m certain he must be heartbroken.”

Raihan nodded, and Leon stood back to let Raihan talk to his mother and his old governess. He looked around the tomb they were in—apparently, the large statue of a dragon in the middle of the Hammerlocke Castle northern nursery, where Cereus chose to sleep, was a tomb for Pokémon partners that had passed away in the family. The walls had shelves that bore plaques that had the name of a Hammerlocke heir on each, and the most recent square shelf had Raihan’s name on it, and now, with its first urn. 

Leon wondered if he should get his own team’s bereavement plans, but right now, he thought, his heart hurt too much. He probably wouldn’t be able to handle it well, anyway. 

“Sir,” Ricki whispered to him, and Leon turned to look at her, blinking blearily. “I’m sorry for suddenly bringing this up, but Detective Robin just called—on my phone, since yours was busy…”

“Ah,” Leon wiped at his eyes, and Hop rubbed his back comfortingly as he nodded. “Sorry, Ricki, could I…”

“Of course, sir.” She nodded, handing him her phone. “We’ll be right here.”

“I kinda wanna walk a bit further down the tomb.” Hop said, gesturing deeper into the marble-walled corridor leading into the depths of Hammerlocke Castle. “You don’t get to see the inside of this place often, so I’m taking my chances.”

“Just don’t get into trouble,” Leon laughed softly, and Ricki gave him a reassuring smile. 

“I’ll go watch him.” She volunteered, and Leon nodded, letting her walk with Hop deeper into the tomb as he pressed Ricki’s phone to his ear. 

“Detective Robin?” He asked. 

“_Ah, Mr. Chairman, hello._” The detective said, “_I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted anything, but I’ve figured out where Mr. Rose is getting his transfused blood._” 

Leon’s eyes widened, as he stepped out of the tomb, leaning against the foot of the statue. Cereus lifted his head slowly from where he was napping next to the statue, and he pressed his head up against Leon’s palm, cooing sadly. 

“I know, Cereus,” Leon murmured, stroking the old Flygon’s head. “Where was it coming from?”

“_St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. It’s in Hammerlocke, the oldest hospital in Galar._”

“Uh huh…” Leon frowned. “So, we should look into this hospital.”

“_I’m a detective, Mr. Chairman, you don’t really think I’ll give you just _that _as an update?_” Robin chuckled, and Leon lit up. “_St. Bartholomew’s is a charity hospital these days, with all hospital fees subsidised by the Duchy of Hammerlocke._”

At that, Leon stopped. “Wait… Raihan’s family… sponsors the hospital?”

“_Sorta, yes. It’s been supported by the Hammerlockes since the duchy existed, so I think Duke Raihan may know more about it than I do. However, when I investigated the blood itself, it turns out that the hospital merely received it from a regular donor that sends it in every four months._”

Leon’s heart leapt into his throat. “Did you get the donor’s name?”

“_Yeah._” Robin said gravely. “_His name’s Lysandre. It… rings a bell, but I can’t… well…_”

Lysandre.

“Oh, Arceus.” Leon said faintly, straightening up, and Cereus cocked his head at him. “I… is…”

“_Well, I’m sure the Lysandre I know isn’t the _only _Lysandre in the world, but…_” Robin sighed, “_Anyway, this donated blood came all the way from Johto or Sinnoh. All the paperwork for this transaction was signed by Lord Narcissus._”

Everything clicked into place. 

Narcissus was supplying Rose with Lysandre’s blood, from Sinnoh or Johto, depending on where the Team Rocket secondary typing research division was in the world. 

That meant that Narcissus was dealing with Team Rocket, and the date Sena saw on Narcissus’s tablet _had _to be an auction, just like what had happened in his Gym.

_He had to do something._

If Leon followed the trail, he could find the source of the smuggled Pokémon, and put a stop to Team Rocket’s activities in Galar.

“Th-thank you, Detective Robin. That’s… that’s been very helpful.”

“_You’re welcome. Just don’t do anything reckless for now, alright? Next week, ecological evaluators are coming to Galar, and you need to be there, too. For now, I’ll put the case together, so that when the time comes to bring it to court, we’ll be ready._”

“Yes. Thank you very much.” Leon straightened up, taking a deep breath, shutting his eyes. “I’ve… I feel so much better hearing about this. Thank you, truly.” 

“_Glad to be of help. You’re making progress, Mr. Chairman. Baby steps._”

“Baby steps.” Leon opened his eyes, and they were bright and sharp. “Right, I’ll be off, Detective. Thank you again.”

“_Right. Goodbye for now._”

Leon hung up, and he sighed deeply, leaning against the statue’s base again, laughing dazedly as Cereus snuggled against him.

“What… what a week, huh?” He said, and the Flygon cooed softly. “I’m sorry for your loss, Cereus.” He knelt down to press a kiss to the old Flygon’s head, and Cereus bumped their noses together. Leon laughed sadly, nodding. “I know. I’m sad too… I can’t imagine what it must be like for you and Raihan.”

“It was inevitable,” Cereus murmured, snuggling with Leon. “But it is fine. I know it will not be long until I follow suit after my old friend,” he smiled, looking down at Leon’s bare ring finger. “After all, there is no longer a need for me to watch over Galahad’s boy.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be home soon.” Leon said, stroking the Flygon’s neck, and he lit up when he saw Odora and Villea walking out of the tomb. Odora was holding Leon’s phone, and he stood up straight as they approached. “Duchess Odora. Villea.”

“Come, now, you can call me Auntie as well,” Odora giggled, but Leon could see the drying tear tracks on her cheeks. Still, he nodded, and amended himself.

“Auntie Odora.” He said, and she beamed at him. 

“There.” She sighed, and handed Leon his phone. “It was wonderful to see my Raihan again, despite the circumstances…” She shook her head. “It seems he’s doing very well on his journey. I’m glad he has you to talk to so regularly, I’m always far too busy.”

“It’s alright, I’ve got him covered.” Leon nodded, and she chuckled.

“Indeed you do.” Odora said. “Now, I just hope you boys aren’t getting into too much trouble…” She looked at his phone worriedly, and Leon laughed sheepishly. “If you need anything, Leon, please ask me for help, as well. As Dowager Duchess, I have connections in the government if need be.” 

Odora took his hand, and looked at him meaningfully. “I want Raihan to come home with all his new dragons just as much as you do. Mummy had her own dragon that couldn’t leave the castle after the law took effect, and I never want to see another Pokémon waste away despite all our best efforts to take care of her.” She squeezed Leon’s hand. “And… I’ve had my suspicions as well. About… _him._ Please let me know if there’s anything I can do about that, too.”

Leon’s eyes widened, and he looked down at his phone to see that Robin had emailed him, too, and Odora must have seen the message preview.

_Chairman Leon: Regarding the list Leader Sena saw of stolen Pokémon in Lord Narcissus’s office…_

“It’s still too early.” Leon whispered, “We’re still gathering evidence.”

“I know.” She nodded, “But when it’s time for the inquisition, I will help.”

Her eyes were bright as their gazes met.

“For my Galahad, and my Raihan, as well.”

“For Hammerlocke, and Galar.” Leon nodded, and she smiled at him.

“You’d make a wonderful Duke.” She sighed, and Leon laughed softly. 

“That’d be Raihan, I think.” He said, giving her a conspiratorial wink, and both Odora and Villea giggled fondly.

“Then a Lord, Your Grace?” Villea asked coyly, and Leon lit up, laughing brightly. “When you enter the duchy, you’d be granted a courtesy title, as the duke’s husband.”

“Indeed.” Odora nodded. “Lord Leon, husband of Duke Raihan! You love to hear it.”

“O-oh, well,” Leon stuttered, turning pink, and Odora gave him a kind smile. “Th-thank you.”

“But of course. You’re always welcome here with us, Leon, even Mummy thinks so.” Odora said gently, “So, until then, we’ll both work hard to make sure Raihan comes home to a Dexit-free Galar.”

“Right.” Leon nodded, and looked determinedly at his phone. “And I think I know where to go next.”

_“Oh shit,_” Raihan had said, _“Lee, uh… this is our summer home.”_

He remembered Raihan’s words when they talked about the address, and he took a deep breath.

“Auntie Odora, what can you tell me about the Hammerlocke summer house near Route 3?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in other news, on (checks notes) friday, [a new spinoff's](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1381256930967003139?s=20) coming soon! we'll be dealing with two new(-ish) secondary typings!


	79. The Lost Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s said that the spirits here sometimes take people… into a world beyond our own.” She said ominously, her voice trembling. “In the spirit world, they could be with the dearly departed, but if they spend too long in there… they won’t make it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a [spinoff too](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30716303)! about that one person that lysandre mentioned he'd helped before....! if you're into darkuncleshipping and horror stories, go check it out!

The blizzard cleared out the day after Sandie’s funeral, and Fantina came over to where Raihan was staying—a warm little hostel near the Hearthome Gym—in a charming mauve roadster. Raihan lit up at the sight of her in the lobby, looking every inch a sore thumb compared to the rest of the hostel’s residents in her violet tube top and white jeans that went halfway down her calves. There was a fashionable Lumiose-style kerchief tied around her neck, and she wore violet-tinted aviator sunglasses that were currently pushed up like a headband on her head. 

“Fantina!” Raihan greeted, feeling more than a little underdressed in a pair of cargo pants, a t-shirt, and his usual jacket, but she beamed at him anyway, waving him over to her table, where she nursed a mug of a frothy, pink drink. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” She greeted cheerfully as Raihan sat down. “How was the funeral?” She asked more quietly, and Raihan gave her a sad little smile. 

“Hurt like hell.” He replied, and she smiled fondly, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. “But… I guess he’s at rest now. I can accept that.”

“That’s right.” Fantina nodded, and took a sip of her drink. “Ooh, this hostel’s strawberry milk is _fantastique._ I’ve never had something like this before!” 

“Yeah.” Raihan grinned, “Their breakfast here’s to die for, Maylene said. That’s why I came here instead of staying at the Pokémon Centre.”

“Understandable.” Fantina giggled, and Raihan chuckled along with her. “Have you had breakfast?” Raihan nodded as she took another swig of her drink, and she nodded, exhaling softly. “Good, good. Shall we get going?” 

“Sure.” Raihan replied, and his eyes boggled at her as she quickly finished her drink. “_Holy shit._”

“We have places to be, _mon cher!_” She crowed, and got up to hand her mug back to the barista, who was laughing fondly. “_Merci _for such a wonderful drink. We’ll be back!”

“Come back any time, Leader Fantina!” They nodded, and she turned to wave at Raihan. 

“Let’s go, Raihan! Before the blizzard decides to change its mind.”

Raihan nodded, laughing softly, and he followed Fantina out the door.

* * *

The trip to the Lost Tower took most of the morning, and by the time Raihan and Fantina arrived, the area was covered in a mild mist that made Raihan shiver slightly. Fantina seemed nonplussed, despite her clothes, but she looked at Raihan with concern.

“Are you alright?” She asked, and Raihan nodded, laughing gingerly as he rubbed his arms.

“Just… weak to ice.” He laughed dryly. “Little dragon things.”

“Oh.” Fantina giggled, “_Oui, oui._ I think I have another scarf in the back seat—would you like to borrow it?”

“Could I borrow it, _s’il vous plaît?"_ Raihan grinned, and Fantina laughed, reaching into her backseat to pull out a soft, fluffy-looking muffler. She wrapped it around Raihan’s neck, and he sighed fondly, nodding. “Man, that hit the spot. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled, and they got out of her car. 

Raihan looked up at the Lost Tower, sighing slightly as he rubbed his arms again, for lack of anything better to do. Fantina sighed fondly, and they both looked up at it. 

“This place is almost like a second home to me.” She murmured, and Raihan hummed. “My team and I spend a lot of time here, either to think, to relax, or to train. Trainers also come here for closure, and to make peace with whom they’ve lost.”

She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. 

“Sometimes, I see the shadow of _une grande bête_, with wings of black and red, roosting in this very tower.” Fantina smiled. “Yveltal, from the lands beyond.”

“Yveltal…” Raihan murmured. “The Destruction Pokémon.”

“In older texts, it was called the Death Pokémon.” Fantina said, and Raihan blinked at her. “_Viens, suis moi,_” She ushered him to follow after her as she strode towards the Lost Tower, and Raihan followed suit. “Over time, translations of the Pokédex were softened to modern sensibilities. Yveltal is the harbinger of death, and it’s believed that it carries the souls of those who’ve passed away into the afterlife.”

“I… didn’t know that.” Raihan murmured, and she nodded.

“Very old Kalosian archaeology,” She explained, “It was quite the breakthrough, back then. I’ve since studied about Yveltal, as part of my journey to become stronger in training with Ghost-types.”

“Isn’t it a dark-type, though?”

“_Précisément, mon cher!_” Fantina said brightly. “How else will it be able to overwhelm errant ghosts?”

“Oh!” Raihan blinked. “Haven’t thought of it that way…”

They made their way into the tower, and Raihan deflated at the sight of multiple gravestones around. Fantina patted his shoulder, and they strode past some people either mourning over a gravestone or looking off into the darkness. 

“Some trainers come here to grow stronger, as well.” Fantina explained, when they came up to the second floor to the sound of a battle ensuing. Raihan lit up when he saw a teen—probably a Gym Challenge hopeful like he was—battling a Gastly with their Empoleon. 

“Good luck with that.” Raihan muttered, and Fantina nodded, chuckling as they went up another floor. “What floor are we going to?”

“The fifth, I think.” She replied. “It’s quietest there, and that was where I saw Yveltal’s shadow.”

“Right…” Raihan murmured, and when they reached the third floor, they saw a small group of people standing by a gravestone. It looked brand-new, and Raihan realised, with no small amount of sadness, that this was a funeral.

“Let’s… keep going.” Fantina said gently, ushering him on, and when they arrived at the fourth floor, the fog was too thick to ignore. 

“Damn,” Raihan frowned, “I can hardly see.”

He looked around, and realised that everything in his vision was just a blur. Even Fantina was just a blur beside him, and he reached out for her. 

“Fantina, you okay?” He asked, and she took his hand. 

“_Oui, _I’m fine.” She replied, but he couldn’t see her. The wind picked up slightly, and Raihan shivered, holding his jacket closer to himself. “Let’s keep going. The top floor is just ahead.”

“Wh-what?” Raihan stammered, but she pulled him along, up the stairs. “How could you see? Why is there wind in here? Is someone using Defog?”

“Perhaps,” Fantina replied. “Come, Raihan.”

* * *

“Raihan!” Fantina called, as the fog dissipated, and next to her, the trainer she’d bumped into looked worriedly into the darkness of the fourth floor. “Oh, _non… _where did he go?”

“Leader Fantina,” the trainer asked, as her Starly returned to her. “You weren’t alone when you came here?”

“_Non. _I was with a friend.” She replied, shaking her head. “I had meant to use Defog, myself, when we got here, but…”

“Oh, no…” the girl said faintly. “Do you think he was… taken?”

“Taken?” Fantina asked, and the girl nodded fearfully. “What do you mean?”

“It’s said that the spirits here sometimes take people… into a world beyond our own.” She said ominously, her voice trembling. “In the spirit world, they could be with the dearly departed, but if they spend too long in there… they won’t make it out.”

Fantina’s eyes widened. “That is _not _good.” She said sternly, and released her Mismagius and Drifblim next to her. “Heather, Loony, _s’il vous plaît,_ help me find Raihan.”

Her two girls bobbed, and shimmered out of view. Fantina shared a worried look with the teen girl. 

“They’ll find him, in whatever realm he is in.” Fantina said, mostly to reassure herself. “In the meantime… what’s your name?”

“Selene.” The girl smiled, and Fantina smiled back at her. “It’s an honour to meet you, Leader Fantina.”

“Thank you.” The older woman nodded, and Loony and Heather came back into view. “Girls. Where is he?”

Heather took her hand, and began leading her towards the stairs. 

“The top floor?” Selene asked, and Fantina nodded. 

“We’ll see.” She said, “Come, Selene, it’s safer for you to stay with me.” 

Gently, Fantina took Selene’s hand, and together, they hurried after the two ghost-type Pokémon. As they reached the next floor, Fantina called out for him. Selene let her go, hanging back near the stairs as Fantina hurried into the fifth floor. 

“Raihan?” She asked, as behind her, Selene’s expression grew serious. “Raihan, where are you?”

Selene held her hand out at Fantina, and she jolted—before crumpling to the ground, fast asleep. Her Pokémon were quick to catch her before she fell, and they looked at Selene warily. 

The teen gave the two Pokémon a smile, and gestured for them to set their trainer down on a nearby bench. 

“Forgive me,” she said, her eyes glowing pink. “I promise, your trainer is having a sweet dream.”

Loony made a move to protest, but Heather held her back, shaking her head. 

“Thank you, Mismagius.” Selene said warmly, as a translucent pink crescent began to glow around her. “Now, please… wait here patiently.”

* * *

The mist on the top floor was even worse, and Raihan coughed, shivering as he and Fantina came to a stop at the top of the stairs. 

“Fuck, I’m _freezing_.” Raihan stuttered, “Fantina, what the hell’s going on—”

Suddenly, she let him go, and Raihan’s eyes widened. The blur that he thought was Fantina turned to look at him, and an ominous pair of red eyes suddenly flashed in the darkness. 

“_Oh, fuck!_” Raihan screamed, and Fantina’s shadow lurched forward, pushing him back—

When Gibble deployed herself from her Pokéball, snarling angrily as she caught Raihan before he fell down the stairs. Raihan quickly recovered, nodding to himself. 

“Dragon Pulse!” He ordered, and immediately ducked as Gibble fired a blast of draconic rage forward at Fantina’s shadow. It dissipated in a hiss that sounded like maniacal laughter, and Raihan and Gibble hurried forward into the top floor, panting heavily as he held onto her claw to keep them together. 

“Who’s doing this?” Raihan demanded into the darkness. “What’s going on?”

He could hear the flapping of wings, and Raihan jolted in shock, as he looked up. The ceiling of the tower was gone, replaced with an unending void of darkness, where he could see a black and white Pokémon hovering in the air. 

“Wh—what _is _that?” Raihan gasped, as Gibble stood in front of him protectively, snarling up at the Pokémon. He quickly took his phone out, hands shaking in panic. “R-Rotom, what’s that?”

“_Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Dark type. To protect itself, it afflicts those around it with nightmares. However, it means no harm._”

Raihan gaped up at it. “That’s… that’s a mythical.” He shook his head. “Darkrai, I don’t mean you any harm! I’m just here to—I’m here to mourn a lost partner!” 

He felt tears prickling his eyes, and Gibble whined sadly. 

“Please… you gotta understand.” He said, growing weaker, “I won’t hurt you. _I’m _hurting.”

Darkrai looked at him, and flew up into the void above their heads. The wind kicked up around them, and Gibble shielded Raihan from the brunt of the wind, holding him down against her body to keep him from flying away. 

“What the _hell,_” Raihan gasped as he clung to Gibble. “What’s—”

A shrill cry cut through the air, and Raihan and Gibble flinched, holding onto each other as an overwhelming presence suddenly came down towards them. Raihan looked up, and his eyes widened to see Yveltal itself, flying above their heads. 

“Yveltal…” he breathed, as he and Gibble straightened up, “You’re…”

It let out another cry again, rearing up threateningly, and Raihan realised what it was about to do.

“Gibble, dodge!” He shouted, and Gibble picked him up, darting across the ground just in time as a Dark Pulse shot out from Yveltal’s maw, slamming into the ground. “What the _hell?_” Raihan gasped, getting up as Gibble stanced up in front of him. 

Yveltal cried out again, looking at Raihan intently, and realisation sank in. 

“You want to battle.” He said, and it nodded, showing him a glowing feather from within the tuft around its neck. “For… that?”

It nodded again, and reared up for another attack. Raihan hissed, his eyes thinning into slits as he hurried back away from Gibble, who nodded in determination. “Gibble, use Sandstorm!”

The Gabite let out a powerful cry, summoning a sandstorm that kicked up in the hall they were in. Raihan pulled his hood up, nodding at Gibble as she peered at him, and she disappeared into the sandstorm. Yveltal cried out again, and dove into the sandstorm, glowing a deep violet, and Raihan gasped.

“Dragon Rush…” He shook his head. “Gibble, use Dragon Pulse!”

A blast of violet energy slammed into Yveltal, who howled in protest. It flew up, swiping its wings powerfully, and a blast of dark energy blasted the sandstorm aside. Raihan bit his lip—that was a move he’d never seen before, but now was not the time to think about it.

“Gibble, use Outrage!” 

Gibble charged at Yveltal, snarling angrily as she glowed with draconic rage, and she slammed into it with a loud bang, clashing with Yveltal as it crossed its wings in front of itself. It snarled at her, and suddenly disappeared. Raihan bit his lip, shaking his head as Gibble whirled around, growling, until suddenly Yveltal charged out from the darkness, slamming into her and throwing her back against the wall. Gibble howled in rage, kicking off the wall to slam back into Yveltal, knocking it down from the air. 

“Phantom Force!” Raihan grinned, shaking his head. “This Yveltal really is a ghost killer, huh?” He jumped when he saw Gibble stumble back from Yveltal, swaying precariously, and he thrust his hand out at Gibble. “_Wake up!_” He called, his eyes thinning into slits, just as Yveltal began to rise again from where it had dropped to the ground, shaking its head. 

Gibble snapped out of her confusion, growling to let Raihan know she was alright Yveltal reared up for another attack.

“Use Swords Dance and dodge it when it comes!” Raihan ordered, and Gibble nodded, leaping to the side to dodge as Yveltal fired another Dark Pulse at her. She slammed her claws into the ground rhythmically, roaring powerfully as she stomped her feet tauntingly at Yveltal, who hissed back at her viciously. “Good! Now use Outrage again!”

She charged at Yveltal, who shot forward at her, talons at the ready. Raihan held his breath as it clashed with her claws, and they struggled together, dropping down onto the ground. Raihan jumped up and down, nodding eagerly. 

“_Go, Gibble!_” He roared, his voice taking on an otherworldly timbre, and Gibble let out an earth-shattering _roar _as she was enveloped in bright, brilliant light that cut through Darkrai’s shroud of shadows. Raihan’s eyes widened as Gibble grew bigger, and _bigger, _until the light faded away to reveal a gorgeous, snarling Garchomp clashing with Yveltal. 

“Oh, shit!” Raihan lit up, “One last push, Gibble! Dragon Pulse!”

Gibble let out a powerful shot of draconic rage from her maw, slamming directly into Yveltal’s chest. The force of it slammed Yveltal down onto the ground as Gibble let out a triumphant roar. The ground shuddered powerfully, and Raihan lit up when the shimmering feather was knocked out of Yveltal’s neck tuft. He hurried forward to grab it as it flew into the air, and the Legendary Pokémon struggled on the ground, hissing angrily. 

“Oh, shit.” Raihan laughed softly, when he saw it cawing, struggling to roll over with how its wingspan was cramped up by the walls around them. “Jeez, okay, c’mere,” he huffed, and Gibble came up to him, cocking her head. “Gibble, help me out. Let’s flip Yveltal over together.”

She nodded, and together, they gently helped the Legendary Pokémon get back up onto its talons. It snapped its beak a few times petulantly, before tucking its wings in primly. Yveltal peered at Raihan, and then at the feather in his hand. 

“You alright?” He asked, reaching out hesitantly, and he was surprised when Yveltal let him touch its wing. “Huh. Look at you…” He murmured, petting it gently. It shut its eyes, and gently leaned down to take the feather from Raihan’s hand. “Hey. What even _is _that?” He asked, but he watched as Yveltal huffed air at it, letting it fly into the room, until it fell onto the ground. The glowing feather suddenly began to grow, and grow, and _grow, _and Raihan’s eyes widened, filling with tears as the silhouette of light began to take shape into a familiar friend’s shape. 

“Sandie.” Raihan breathed shakily as the light died down, and his Sandaconda blinked at him. “Oh, _fuck, _Sandie.” He stumbled towards his Sandaconda, scrambling for his Pokéball harness to release his team. They all crowded around Sandie, and Raihan dropped to his knees in front of him, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Sandie…”

“Raihan.” He said softly, and _oh, _his voice was exactly how he imagined. Raihan sniffled, wiping his eyes as he pulled the Sandaconda into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.” Sandie looked around at his teammates, and chuckled softly. “_All _of you.”

“It’s—it’s you,” Raihan sobbed, and Sandie nodded, cuddling close with him as Gladiolus, Darude, and Gooms hugged him, too. “Oh, Sandie, I’m so sorry—I’m so sorry I wasn’t there with you—when you—”

“It’s okay.” Sandie said warmly. “I saw your performance. It was beautiful. So very like you.”

Raihan laughed sadly, pulling away from him to cup Sandie’s head in his hands. 

“Lee told me you wanted to perform, too.”

“Yes, I had wanted to. Unfortunately, these old bones will not allow it. I was content on simply watching instead.” He looked at Janus and Gibble, who stood back behind Raihan awkwardly, and he smiled. “And the new children… why, they’re marvellous. I’m so glad, Raihan.” He pulled back slightly, and Raihan nodded, turning to look at the Garchomp and Altaria. “Come here, children, I want to see you.” Sandie said, and Gibble nodded, trotting closer, with Janus following her with a little trepidation. 

Gibble growled in greeting, and Raihan blinked at her. She cocked her head at him.

“Oh, my dear, you’ve evolved.” He said warmly, and Gooms lit up, hurrying to Gibble’s side to hold her claws, awe in her eyes as she cooed happily. “Yes, Gooms. She’s fully grown now.”

Gibble growled happily, and Sandie chuckled. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you too.” Sandie nodded, and looked at Raihan. “Only I can talk. I am, after all, a spirit.”

“Oh…” Raihan deflated, and Sandie nodded, before turning back to Gibble. Gooms let her go, smiling fondly, before returning to Sandie’s side along with Gladiolus and Darude. 

“You’re a fantastic dancer, my dear. Leon’s little Pumpkin can’t wait to meet you.” 

“Oh! Leon’s Trapinch…” Raihan trailed off, and Sandie nodded.

“I took her under my wing when she was recuperating in Hammerlocke,” He said. “Cereus and I took care of her. She calls me pawpaw.” He chuckled, and Raihan laughed softly, wiping at his eyes again. “And you…” He turned to Janus. “Must be Janus, yes?”

Janus bowed his head at him. 

“You move elegantly. Beautiful and dignified. Raihan has raised you well.” Sandie nodded, and Janus looked _embarrassed,_ squawking slightly as he hid behind his wing. Sandie laughed fondly, and he turned to Gladiolus, Gooms, and Darude. “And you three… thank you, for joining Raihan on this journey. The three of you have been with him the longest, and I know you three will help him achieve the dream he’s had for so long.”

Gooms cooed sadly, and Sandie nodded, laughing softly.

“Oh, I’m very old, Gooms. You younger dragons are a better match for greatness.” The three dragons replied sadly, and he nodded. “I know. It has been an honour to battle alongside all of you.”

“Sandie…” Raihan sighed, and the Sandaconda turned back to him. “I… never got to say this, but thank you. Thank you for all your hard work, for all the love and trust you gave me.”

“The feeling is mutual, my dear Raihan.” Sandie replied. “I was so very happy to see you bring me onstage in your own way. While I knew it was impossible for me to be there, I could imagine it. I could imagine dancing with you, with the girls, and I felt so happy.” The Sandaconda shut his eyes, sighing. “My only wish was that I had been a Silicobra when we first met, so that our time together could have been just that little bit longer.”

“Me too.” Raihan said sadly, and Janus wiped away his tears with his fluff gently. “I… I love you so much. Please rest peacefully from now on.”

“Indeed, I shall.” Sandie nodded. “Thank you, Raihan. I love you too, all of you, even the new children—take care of each other, always.” He shut his eyes, sighing happily. “Goodbye.”

“Bye, Sandie.” Raihan said faintly, sniffling as his other dragons murmured their own goodbyes, and Sandie faded away into the shining feather again. Behind them, Yveltal cawed softly, and Raihan turned to see it towering over them, its wings spread out to shelter them in an embrace of sorts. “Yveltal.” He murmured, and it cawed softly again. 

Gladiolus picked up Sandie’s feather, and handed it to Raihan, who sighed sadly as he peered down at it. 

“I… have to give this back to you, don’t I?” He asked, and Yveltal rumbled its yes. “R-right…”

Raihan sniffled, and held the feather to his chest for a long, quiet moment. It was pleasantly warm, and a tear rolled down his cheek. 

“Thanks for letting us say goodbye.” He murmured, turning around to gently put the feather back into Yveltal’s neck tuft. It shone brightly once, and faded into the grey that surrounded Yveltal’s neck. Raihan sighed sadly, as Yveltal gently pressed its beak on top of his head. “Hah, thanks…” Raihan laughed softly. “You’re… surprisingly gentle. I guess not all stories of legendaries are true, aren’t they?”

It crooned quietly, and finally pulled away. It gave Raihan and his team one last bow, and the darkness around them began to fade away. Darkrai came into view again, and much to Raihan’s surprise, a teen girl strode into the darkness, a Mismagius in tow. 

“Lord Yveltal.” She said, giving Yveltal a bow, “I have completed my mission.”

It nodded its head, and took off into the void above their heads. Darkrai followed suit after it, and the girl shook her head fondly, before looking at Raihan with a smile. 

“May this act of mercy upon you bring you peace,” she said, and Raihan blinked at her confusedly. “The Exalted extends Its condolences for your mourning heart.”

“Arceus.” Raihan said faintly, and the girl chuckled knowingly. 

“Do take care.” She bowed her head, and much to Raihan’s shock, transformed into a Pokémon herself. 

“_To satisfy your curiosity,_” the girl’s voice said in his head, “_I am known as Cresselia. Leader Fantina may know me as Selene. I did not wish to deceive her, but it is my Lord Yveltal’s wish for me to do so._”

“Cresselia…” Raihan breathed. “I’ll… I’ll let her know.” He nodded, and the legendary Pokémon bobbed—like she was curtsying—before she, too, flew into the void after Yveltal and Darkrai. 

Raihan watched her leave, and the Mismagius approached him, looking at him intently. He swallowed nervously, and she looked at his team. 

“Oh, hang on.” He nodded, and put them all back into their Pokéballs. When he’d tucked the last Pokéball into his harness, he nodded at the Mismagius. “Right. I’m ready.”

The Mismagius shut her eyes, and so did Raihan. He could feel the air around him shift, and when it was over, he opened his eyes again, and gasped when he saw a mostly empty floor, with Fantina fast asleep on a bench, sitting next to her Drifblim. The Mismagius fluttered over to them, and Raihan realised it was Fantina’s. 

“Ah, young man.” An old woman’s voice said behind him, and Raihan whirled around to see two old women standing by a slightly ruined-looking shrine. He gave them an awkward bow, and one of them beckoned him closer. Raihan did as he was told, and they gave him a smile. 

“We are the overseers of this tower.” One said. “Over the years we have taken care of the Lost Tower, the times we have seen Yveltal itself have been scarce, and only occurred in slivers of its shadow.”

“But you… you have been blessed to meet it yourself.” The other nodded. “Truly, you must be beloved by Arceus.”

Raihan thought back to Cresselia’s words, and laughed softly. 

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

They laughed together, and when they settled down, the two old women sighed. 

“May its visit bring you peace.” One said. 

“And may Cresselia’s blessing bring you joy.” The other nodded, and Raihan blinked. “Your hand, my dear boy. She has given you a Lunar Wing.”

Raihan looked down at his hand, and sure enough, clutched in it was a shimmering feather. It felt cool to the touch, and had an opalescent lustre that didn’t seem to fade despite the dim light that filtered into the Lost Tower’s summit. 

“That’s said to bring you good dreams.” They nodded. “May you treasure it well, young man.”

“I… I will.” Raihan nodded, smiling, and he gave them a courteous bow. 

“Very well. Do take care along your way; and do be gentle with dear Miss Fantina. Cresselia is not known to play tricks, but perhaps she did so at Yveltal’s behest.”

“Yeah.” Raihan replied fondly. “I’ll make sure she gets back to Hearthome safely.”

He strode to Fantina, who slowly blinked awake, and she looked up at Raihan with squinted eyes. 

“Raihan…?” She asked weakly. “_Quoi…?_” She looked around, and began to panic. “Selene? Where—”

“Hey, take it easy.” Raihan laughed softly. “You won’t _believe _what I just went through.”


	80. The Interregional Ecological Survey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is the first big hurdle for the Dexit repeal. This is your first big event. Got a lot on our plates, don’t you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy 4/20 day!

_ONE WEEK LATER_

The Wild Area Observation Deck was a project that was completed alongside the Motostoke Wild Area Research Facility—which was back to full functioning now—by Macro Cosmos and the Aether Foundation to promote environmentalism and eco-tourism in the Wild Area in a safe, distant manner. It was a sleek, glass-walled building that held four gigantic 360-degree observation decks (two Upper and two Lower Decks) and was supported by large but sleek duralumin supports that suspended the entire pod-shaped building over a giant ravine in the middle of the Wild Area. The upper decks were clear up top, allowing view of the sky, while the lower decks were clear at the bottom, showcasing the world beneath the pod. 

There were two solar-powered bullet train lines that connected the Observation Deck to civilisation—one bullet train line connected the Observation Deck to the Motostoke Wild Area Research Facility, while the other connected it to Motostoke Station. It was a technological marvel born of collaboration between Macro Cosmos and the Aether Foundation, and it was one wildly successful among the Galarian public. With the Green Galar Initiative, the Observation Deck was livelier than ever, and it only seemed right that one of Galar’s biggest ecological events would be held right there.

Leon had been _exhausted, _forcing himself to bounce from Sandie’s loss to run himself ragged with sorting out the logistics of this event, and he found himself half falling asleep as he struggled to keep his attention on his phone.

“Ooh, whatcha reading about there, Lee?” 

Leon jumped, jolting in surprise as he looked up from his phone to see Sonia smiling brightly at him. He lit up at the sight of her—looking very much like the Professor that she was, in a formal jumpsuit, high heels, and of course, a lab coat—the outside one, Leon knew. 

“Sonia!” He cheered, getting up, and they laughed together brightly, pulling each other into a tight hug. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.”

“Me too.” She said warmly, and they pulled apart from each other. “Man, I’ve been so busy with the _SecTy _project that I haven’t had the chance to hang around.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised Lord Narcissus let you take the day off for this.” Leon mumbled, and Sonia laughed nervously. 

“Well, he’s here today, too.” She mumbled. 

“Oh.” Leon replied flatly, and they looked out beyond them. Leon and Sonia stood together at the window, allowing them to clearly see the massive expanse of the Wild Area beneath and beyond them. “The Interregional Ecological Survey… I can’t believe Galar actually _qualifies _for an inspection this year.”

“This is… off the record, but Gran’s always said that the reason why the IES doesn’t happen in Galar is because the government blocks it off.” Sonia murmured, and Leon peered at her, alarmed. “I can’t validate that statement, but Gran’s been _very _pleased with the IES visit. Back then, she’d receive emails from Professor Rowan about the IES every year, but she could never get a decent answer out for him.”

“Well, this year, she can tell him the good news.” Leon smiled, and Sonia nodded. 

“Yeah.” She sighed. “And… well, I’m not actually… _off._ Today.” 

“What?” Leon blinked, and Sonia gave him an exasperated look.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t look over the participant list.” She said flatly, and Leon deflated. “Oh, Lee… nah, I get it. You’ve been… busy, right?”

She looked at his phone, and Leon swallowed, nodding.

“Yeah.” He said, after a long moment’s hesitation. After Detective Robin had figured out the St. Bartholomew lead, they had been working tirelessly, trying to figure out how to link Magiflora Mining to the funding that sent Lysandre’s blood from Johto or Sinnoh to Galar. Aside from that, Leon had been preparing the logistics of the event today—which was to be held above them. Right now, Leon and Sonia could still hear the shuffle of footsteps in the observation deck above them, where the IES conference was to be held. 

Sonia shook her head. “I’m the Professor representing Galar.” She said, and Leon gaped at her. “Yeah, I know. That’s really only the reason why Lord Narcissus let me off the ST project for half a month—I had to get the Galarian IES report ready. I had Hop to help me out, too.”

“Oh, Sonia.” Leon sighed, “Thank you so much. You’re working really hard.”

She gave him a kind smile. “To tell you the truth, our findings are… interesting.” The redhead winked at him, and Leon blinked at her. “_Buuuut…_ I’m not allowed to tell you. Like, I’m legally bound not to.” Sonia giggled, and she gave him a little wave. “You’ll have to listen to our reports really well.”

“Of course.” Leon chuckled, and she sobered up.

“You’re really lucky, though…” She sighed dreamily. “Aside from me, you’re already well-acquainted with Professor Kukui… and Professor Sycamore.”

“What?” Leon blinked. “Professor Sycamore’s here too?”

“Well, Professor Sycamore just has to take a train to get to Galar, y’know.” Sonia stuck her tongue out at him. “He told me he’d been bunking with his college bestie here in Galar while he worked on the IES report for the two weeks we had. I’m actually surprised you know about Professor Kukui being on the IES team.”

“Oh, wow…” Leon blinked, and he shook his head. “Well, actually, I think it was his wife that’ll be doing the IES report.” 

“Right, right, she’s the ecologist…” Sonia nodded, humming, “To be honest, I think we all did what principal investigators do best.” She snickered to herself, and Leon cocked his head at her. “Make our research assistants do it.” 

“Oh, you!” Leon burst out laughing, and the two friends shared laughter in the empty observation deck. They sobered up with twin sighs, and Sonia hummed happily. 

“Man. I never thought I’d end up here.” She murmured, and Leon smiled fondly. “I never thought I’d actually be a _real _Professor… and to represent Galar at an interregional event… I gotta admit I’m more than a little nervous.” 

“You’ve got this.” Leon said confidently, and she smiled at him. “I know you. You don’t half ass things you know you’re good at.” He elbowed her lightly, and she laughed. “And you’re _good _at this. You _know_ this.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, and bumped their hips together. “By the way, you didn’t answer my question. What were you reading?”

“Oh, old archaeological studies on Yveltal.” Leon said, and she blinked at him, cocking her head. “Well… _Raihan’s _condensed versions of old archaeological studies in Yveltal. Raihan and Cynthia’s. They made it together.”

“What for?” Sonia asked, her brow knotting in worry. “Is this… is this about Sandie?”

“Well, yes and no.” Leon replied, and they settled down on the bench Leon was previously sitting on. Sonia nodded at him, looking on in concern, and he gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s just that… apparently Raihan ran into it a few days ago.”

“Whoa.” Sonia breathed. “What a lucky guy. Is this secondary typing thing a freakin’ legendary magnet, or something?” 

Leon laughed into his fist as Sonia made a show of shaking her head, acting appalled. 

“Arceus sent it so he could say goodbye to Sandie.” He said gently, and she sobered up, her eyes going wide. “Yveltal had a feather on its neck tuft that was apparently Sandie’s soul or spirit, or something, and Raihan and the team got a chance to say goodbye.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s lovely.” Sonia said, her lip quivering, and Leon laughed. 

“Dude, your makeup’s gonna run.” He said, and she spluttered, fanning herself with her large laminated IES ID. “But yeah… I’m glad it helped him out. That’s why we’ve been reading up on it. Apparently, a long time ago, it was called the Death Pokémon, not the Destruction Pokémon. In old Kalos mythology, it was said to carry souls into the afterlife in its feathers.”

Leon looked down at his phone, smiling softly as he thumbed at Raihan’s picture in his background. 

“Guess they were right, to some extent.” He murmured, and Sonia gave him a smile.

“You know, we may learn even more about the legendaries with the help of secondary typed people.” She said, and he smiled back at her. “Another good reason to have them around, I say.”

“I mean, aside from the fact your girlfriend is also said secondary typed person?” Leon asked, and Sonia burst out laughing. 

“Yeah, there’s that too.” She huffed, and got up. “Well, I gotta go prepare some stuff. Remember, Lee, there’ll be four of us up there. All of Galar is watching, and probably the whole world, too.”

“Not to mention all sorts of stakeholders.” Leon said, getting up with a sigh. “All kinds of people out there today… let’s hope the world won’t implode.”

Sonia grinned, and gave him a thumbs-up. “We got this.”

“We got this.” Leon smiled, and hooked his arm around hers, making her light up in recognition. “We’ll make it.”

“We’ll make it!” Sonia nodded, and they pulled each other into a tight hug. “Oh, wow. We used to do this way back when in the Gym Challenge. Sentimental much?” She laughed, but Leon could hear her holding back her emotions in her cheerful tone.

“Yeah, a little.” He said, “This is the first big hurdle for the Dexit repeal. This is your first big event. Got a lot on our plates, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Sonia replied. “We’re… we’re _really _not kids anymore, huh?”

“Nope.” Leon held her closer, breathing in her perfume—he recognised it, it was Nessa’s, and he couldn’t help but smile. “We haven’t been kids for a while, but now it _really _feels like it.”

She held onto him for a little longer, and they finally pulled apart. 

“Knock ‘em dead, Sonia.” Leon smiled, and she grinned back at him.

“Crush it, Leon.” Sonia replied, and Leon laughed. 

“Always.”

* * *

Leon was grateful that the seating arrangements for the IES conference were separated according to stakeholders. Businessmen like himself were all grouped together, and he could see academics, student and youth leaders, environmentalists, and politicians all gathered together in their own areas of the East Upper Observation Deck. He could see Narcissus on the other side of the room, talking on his phone with his hand over his mouth about something, and Leon was relieved he didn’t have to deal with him—at least, not _yet, _but best if not at all. Some of the business owners he sat with were either MC competitors or MC substituents, but Leon wasn’t very close to most of them. He was, of course, familiar with the COOs of MC constituents, but he felt very much alone where he sat, awkwardly shifting around in his seat. 

He looked in front of him to see that a piece of paper with a name on it was stuck to the back of the chair in front of him, and Leon realised that it was the name of the man who sat in front of him. Leon only had one person he was sitting next to—Ricki had put him on an aisle seat, bless her heart—and he felt the urge to peek at the name behind the empty seat. 

“Oh, right here? Thank you very much.” A familiar voice said behind him, and Leon’s eyes widened as he whirled around to see Steven Stone standing there, his own eyes wide at Leon. “Oh!”

“S-Steven Stone!” Leon gasped, shooting to his feet, and he internally wanted to kick himself when he realised that his outburst caught the attention of all the people around them. Thankfully, all Steven had on his face was pleasant surprise, and completely unmindful of the stares and the cameras turned towards them, coolly gave Leon a sweet smile.

“Chairman Leon. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” He said, and gestured at the seat next to Leon’s. “It seems we’ll be seatmates.”

“R-right, of course.” Leon nodded, and stood aside to let the man pass through the row of chairs to take his seat with a content sigh. Leon collected himself as Steven passed him by, and he sat down, unable to keep himself from smiling as their eyes met. 

There was a conspiratorial twinkle in Steven’s eyes as the man offered him his hand to shake.

“A formal introduction, I think, should be in order.” He said, and Leon nodded, shaking Steven’s proffered hand, and he didn’t miss the way the man’s cobalt blue wedding ring twinkled in the harsh light of the observation deck. “Steven Stone. CEO of Devon Corporation in Hoenn.”

“Leon, Chairman of Macro Cosmos here in Galar.” Leon said, and Steven nodded, sitting back in his seat with a contented sigh as he and Leon let go of each other. “Thank you again, by the way, for reaching out to me about Devon collaborations in the coming year. I know we just talked about it recently, but if there’s anything new…”

“Ah, well, I was planning to visit Galar in…” Steven looked at his watch, and counted a few fingers. “The coming year, maybe a few months. I’ll be attending a wedding.” He said pointedly, and Leon felt his cheeks burn. “It’s a dear friend’s wedding, and I’d really appreciate it if I had an excuse to stay a little longer, be it a project or not.” He chuckled. 

“Well,” Leon stammered, “I’ll bump up Devon projects in time, I suppose.” 

“Thank you.” Steven chuckled, and Leon was surprised when he slumped down slightly with a sigh. “They’ve stopped listening and watching us.” He said, and Leon lit up. 

“How’d you know?” He murmured, and Steven made a vague gesture.

“You start hearing cues.” He replied, “The background chatter grows louder. Something else has happened, or someone else has arrived.” He gestured behind Leon, and the younger man turned to realise a celebrity had walked into the observation deck. “The most important part is being able to tell when a camera is no longer pointed at you. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tips on that, but you grow used to it—it gets fine-tuned into you eventually.”

“I think I can more or less gauge when a camera’s pointed at me.” Leon said flatly, and Steven grinned a little. “I’ve been a celebrity since I was 10. Part and parcel, all that.”

“True.” Steven hummed. “It took me a few years to realise. Must be the numb skin.” He chuckled, and Leon’s expression fell. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He sobered up, “I was… well… it’s… a secondary typing joke.” He said lamely, and he rubbed his arm. 

Leon shook his head, putting a kind smile on his face as he patted Steven’s back. 

“No, I’m just glad you’re taking it pretty well.” He said, making a vague gesture at Steven. “Raihan told me you… had a hard time.”

“Well, it’s getting better.” Steven chuckled, “When you can take quite a beating, you’d be surprised at how much you’re able to do.” 

“Really?” Leon blinked, and the older man nodded.

“I’ve been in pretty nasty scrapes in caves while looking for precious stones. Thanks to this typing, I can get home with no broken bones… and a very, _very _amazed 12-year-old.” Steven chuckled, and Leon’s expression grew warm. 

“I’m glad.” He murmured, and the two men chuckled softly, bumping their shoulders together. “Raihan had been really worried about you.”

“Yeah, he’s like that, isn’t he?” Steven said warmly, but before they could continue talking, the murmurs of the crowd suddenly hushed, and the two men looked at the stage in front of their seats to see the stern-faced Head Commissioner of the Interregional Ecological Survey stride up to the podium. “Oh, Commissioner Estelle.”

Commissioner Estelle was from Kalos, and she reminded Leon very much of Raihan’s grandmother. She had that stern, Granbull-like countenance on her face, her thin lips curved downwards into a slight frown framed by lines at the corners. Her salt-and-pepper hair was up in a severe, dignified bun, and she had the posture of a soldier—the scar she bore on her cheek was testament to that past, Leon had heard. 

“She used to be a Pokémon Ranger.” Steven murmured, and Leon blinked at him. “The scar, she got from an encounter with a poacher. She’d saved an entire shipment of Kalosian native Pokémon from Team Rocket, but nearly lost her eye for it.”

“Oh, wow…” Leon breathed, turning back to Commissioner Estelle as she cleared her throat to catch the room’s attention.

“Good day.” She said, and her voice held a firm steel that was authoritative, befitting of her position. “I am Commissioner Estelle of the Interregional Ecological Survey, a certified organisation under the United Regions. The primary goal of the Interregional Ecological Survey is to ensure that all regions of the world maintain a pristine ecological identity, for the betterment and preservation of all functioning aspects of society. It is with great honour—and great relief—” There was a little smile on her lips at that, and Leon lit up. “That the IES finally has the opportunity to evaluate the state of Galar’s ecological aspects, for the first time in over ten years.”

There was a light smattering of applause, and Leon couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

“Therefore, let us not delay. Please allow me to welcome the four Professors with us today to present the case for Galar’s IES evaluation.” Commissioner Estelle cleared her throat, flipping a page on her podium, and nodded to herself. “Firstly, leading the IES team on behalf of the United Regions, is Professor Birch of Hoenn.” 

“Oh.” Steven chuckled fondly, and Leon raised an eyebrow at him as the good Professor strode up on stage with an awkward gait, his cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment. Steven shared a private smile with Leon, and leaned in to whisper to him. “Professor Birch isn’t one for formal events.” He said, “He’s far more comfortable in his khakis and slippers.” 

Leon peered at the poor man in a well-tailored suit, and he smiled fondly. 

“Did you supply him the suit?” He asked.

“The shoes, and the plane ticket over, too.” Steven hummed, and Leon laughed into his hand. “It’s essentially my duty, as CEO of Devon.” He elbowed Leon lightly. “You’re gonna have to do this too, for Professor Sonia.”

“Nah, she won’t let me.” Leon smiled fondly, and Steven smiled. “She’s proud like that.”

“The representative of Galar, Professor Sonia.” Commissioner Estelle said, and Steven and Leon looked up to see Sonia stride up on stage to stand next to Birch, looking a bit more confident about herself. Her shoes did help her grow to be about an inch taller than the man, Leon thought, maybe that was it. 

“And last, but not the least, the peer reviewers of this Galarian IES evaluation, Professor Burnet of Alola, and Professor Sycamore of Kalos.” Sycamore strode on stage first, though he turned to offer his hand to Burnet, who giggled fondly as she humoured him, allowing him to escort her to stand next to Sonia, before he took his place next to her. “Each Professor will present their individual findings, and at the end of the conference, the Galarian IES rating will finally be decided.”

Leon took a shaky breath, and Steven squeezed his shoulder. 

“You’ve worked hard for this.” He said, and he nodded. “Have faith in yourself, Leon.”

“Yeah.” Leon laughed faintly, and peered at Narcissus, who was wearing a carefully neutral expression on his face. “I’m just… a little more than worried.”

Steven patted his knee. “You’ve got this.”

Leon met Sonia’s eyes, and he felt his heart _soar _at the stars in them. She nodded at him determinedly as Commissioner Estelle continued to explain the IES procedures, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah.” He breathed, nodding. “We’ve got this.”

**Author's Note:**

> > leon's neck mole is singularly the most powerful thing in the galar region step aside eternatus the power of horny will sustain this region for eternity
>> 
>> — 🌟 bukkun, MSc @ dracovish lovemail 🌟 (@trickscd) [January 6, 2020](https://twitter.com/trickscd/status/1214167506803290112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> don't boo me im right


End file.
